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ContentsFlick through the Dunelmian casually and it would seem to be the predictable record of a typical public school year. Look a little closer, read more carefully and the picture changes. It is easy to miss so many things. The 1st XV are high prominence, but read Toby Rostron Maher’s account o f the 2nd XV and see if it doesn’t change your per­ceptions of the other levels. And if you think it's time another sport deserved the headlines have a read the rowing report. Even if you don’t know anything about it you will be astonished at the level of achievement within the club. Tom Edwards won a gold medal in last year’s European championships when in the lower sixth ....

And so on and so o n ... It’s impossible in this small column to highlight every activity. The exuberance and elan of “Godspell” , the consistent quality and

variety o f the music, the growing strength of the girls’ games, the O.D's : who’s in who’s out, who’s been swept up to the great playground in the sky..........

Atypical public school ? Maybe; but it should be remembered that in 2014 we will be celebrating the sixth hundredth year o f our existence. There aren’t many schools or even countries come to that which can look that far b a ck ......

W. B Yeat’s famous lines “How but in custom and ceremony are innocence and beauty born” come to mind. We can cer­tainly boast o f custom and ceremony, let’s call it tradition, like very few others. We can certainly boast o f innocence, take the year sevens and even some o f the staff ... But can we boast o f beauty ? certainly not in the 2nd XV. Just look at the photo. And if you do read on maybe you'll begin to understand that we may be an ancient pub­lic school but we're certainly not typical.

Finally, many thanks to Colin Looker, our resident printer, whose help in coordinating this edition has been invaluable.

Hugh Dias.

Essential Information 4

Headmaster’s Notes 6

House Reports

The Caffinites 7School House 8Poole House 9MacLeod 10Pimlico House 12

Speech Day

Speech Day Prizes 13

Headmaster's Report 15

Chaplaincy News 20

Music 22

Drama 26

Geography Field studies 29

Trips/Events/Walking 30

Sport

Girls 32Waterpolo 46Athletics 47Rugby 51Cricket 59Boat Club 65

CCF

CCF Report 70Army Section 70Royal Navy Section 72RAF Section 74

News from the Common Room 75

Memory Lane 78

Friends 80

OD Society 83

‘D unelm ian 2007-08

HeadmasterN G Kern, MA (Oxford), MSc (Pretoria)

Deputy HeadmasterD R Best, BA (Belfast) PGCE

Director of Development and ServicesMr G Simpson

Director of StudiesJ D Everatt, MA (Durham)

Senior MasterR Thomas, MA (St Andrews)

Senior MistressMrs F M Parker, BEd (Oxon)

ChaplainMrs A de Lange, BA (Exeter), MA (Sheffield)

Academic StaffDB Aitken BSc, (Edinburgh); PGCE M P Alderson, BA, MA (Durham); PGCE M C T Baldwin, BA (Kent); PGCE M Bedworth, BA (York)J A Burgess, MA, BSc (St Andrews)M F Burke, BScMiss F Burnie, BSc (UCL)Miss J M Burns, BA (Durham)M J Bushnell, BSc (Swansea) (Housemaster of Poole House)I J Campbell, BEng (Bangor); PGCE J Curry, BSc, MA (Durham)T A Davies BA (Newcastle); PGCEH S Dias, BA (Ulster); PGCEMrs K E Dougall, BA, QTS (Warwick)R Duff BEd (NCE Aberdeen)Mrs C L Eccleston, BA (Sunderland)M B FishwickC S Fordyce, BSc (Herriot Watt) PGCE M A Gardner, BSc MA (Dunelm)P C Gerrard, BEd (Leeds Met.Carnegie College)R Gibbon, BSc (Sheffield)M G Gibson, MA (Kent) PGCE (Housemaster o f Pimlico)Mrs S L Gibson, BA, MA (Middlesex) (Housemistress of Pimlico) G Hallam, BSc (Leeds) (Housemaster o f Caffinites)M rsELP Hewitt. BA (London), MA (OU)R N Hewitt, BEd (Durham)J G James, BSc (Wales); PGCEK S Jones, BSc, PGCE (Dunelm) (Housemaster of School House)S .1 M Kime. BA, PGCE. FRSA (Aberystwyth)Miss J M Linthwaite, BA (Newcastle); MPhil; MEd; DipESL B Mason BEd (de Montfort)R A Muttitt, BMus (Hull),ARCO, FRSAS

Head o f History

Head o f Classics

Director o f Marketing

Head o f Modern Languages

ChemistryModern LanguagesHead o f Art and DTPhysical EducationHead o f Science and BiologyBiologyMathematicsModern LangugesHead o f Economics & Business Studies PhysicsHead o f Physics & Careers Head o f Classics EnglishG irls' Games and Geography Assistant Director o f Music

Professional Cricket CoachMathematicsITDirector o f Physical EducationComputer StudiesEnglish & Media StudiesDrama & Media StudiesMathematicsHistoryGeographyPE and GamesHead o f ChemistryHead o f EMDEnglish as a Second LanguageDirector o f SportDirector o f Music

‘Dunefmian 2007-08

^s&esvlial/ ^n^wvuiUcm/ 2007-2008Mrs M F Proud, MA (Durham) Head o f Religious Studies Governing BodyJ C Renshaw, BA (Durham); PGCE Head o f Geography Dr. J W MarshallMs. E J Ross, BA (Durham) Head o f Learning Support Mr F NicholsonMiss C Snaith, LL.B (Northumbria) Religious Studies Mr S B AndersonMiss RHP Taylor, Bsc (Aberystwyth) Economics/Business Studies Prof. J H AnsteeS Thompson BA (Sunderland);PGCE English Mr P S BellMrs N J Thompson (Leeds) BA;PGCE D T & A rT Canon S Cherry

Mrs A GalbraithS Tween. BSc (Sheffield) D T and Art Miss J L HobbsA R Wallace. BSc (Lancaster); PGCE Chemistry Dr E D HuntM D Ward. BEd (Sheffield); PGCE Head o f ICT Miss G KerrMrs K L Wilkinson. BA (Durham); PGCE Modern Languages Mr R H LangdonJ Williamson, BA (York) He Rowing, History Dr S M OliverP R Wilson, MA. BA (Cantab); PGCE Head o f Mathematics Mr D W WelshM Younger, BA (Sunderland); PGCE Art & DT Mrs H G Weston

Part l ime Teaching StaffA Gouge, BA; PGCE Economics & Business StudiesM O Stephens, BA; Cert Ed, MCollT, PGC in SpLD Learning Support Mrs F Swan, BA (Durham); PGCE EnglishD P Singleton Mrs S Sweeting

Pastoral StaffMiss H Wood Mrs J Flaley Mrs J Gorton Mrs A Dutton Mrs Sue Mitchell

Estates StaffB M Hunter P R Atkinson

Administrative StaffMrs S SpenceMrs AM WidesMrs N McCannMrs R GardnerMrs R Hetherington-SeymourMs K HuntMrs J Mason

Technical StaffC Looker Ms L Bailey J Hind S Donaldson

RowingNetball

Poole House (Resident) Pimlico House RGN - Nurse RGN - Nurse RGN - Nurse

Estates Manager School Marshall/SSI

Headmaster's Secretary School Secretary Marketing Secretary Finance Office Finance Office Finance Office Librarian

Print Manager Laboratory Technician Laboratory Technician Laboratory Technician

Head of the SchoolAlex DuellHead of School HouseAdam RichHead of Poole HouseHarry BoothHead of CaffinitesAlex DuellHead of PimlicoJuliet SladeHead o f MacLeodE-J Saxby

MonitorsSchoolJohnny Brooke Matthew TurnbullCaffinitesMax Edge Richard GregoryPoole HouseKieran Forsythe Jamie Oyebade Greg TurnerPimlico HouseElla DavisonMacLeod HouseBecky Maddison

Chairman)(Vice Chairman)

DuneCmian 2007-08

Headmaster’s NotesMr. Neil Kern, Headmaster 1997-2008

When Neil Kern arrived as Headm aster at Durham School in Septem ber 2007, he had already had a var­ied career. Born in South Africa, he had been educated at

Forest School in Essex and read Biology at Oxford. After his first degree he took a year's opera course in London and then researched small mammals in the Kruger National Park for an MSc. He taught Biology at Rugby School and became Head o f Biology at Repton School, where he also was appointed Housemaster of a senior House and ran the CCF.

When one looks back over the past eleven years. Change and Progress are words that spring to mind, and as Head­master he led these developments. In 1997 there were 298 pupils in the School; now there are 450. Then there were 24 Sixth Form girls; now there are 121 between 11 and 18, in two Houses, one of which has been purpose-built. Then there was one com puter room with 15 machines; now there are three suites of computers as well as many Departmental stand-alones or small networks and the School is fully net­worked. There was no official database, although a couple of small ones were growing up; Mr. Kern created a wide- ranging database and single-handedly developed programs and data banks within it. Reports and registration are now done via Schoolbase, a professional database with a myriad of applications. Sport too has widened with the building of the all-weather surface, a project that owed a huge amount to Mr. Kern's drive and energy.

He has also had a great personal impact in Drama, showing what pupils can achieve in his enormously enjoyable and professional productions. Any member of one of his five casts owes him a debt and will have reaped great rewards from the experience. “Les M iserables" was probably the peak, but “Grease” , “The Crucible", “The Com edy o f Er­rors” and “Godspell" all entranced the audiences.

The Kern family have been an integral part of our School life too. Mrs. Ann Kern has supported his role with her generous and accom plished hospitality and has played an important teaching role at Bow School as Head o f the Pre- Prep department. Gem ma and Julie were both scholars and musicians who distinguished themselves in various ways: for example, Gem ma went off to Cambridge and Julie was Head of School.

They now depart to South Africa to run a small, exclusive game lodge on the edge of the Kruger National Park. We thank them all, but particularly Mr. Kern, for all that they have achieved here and wish them success and happiness for the future in their new venture.

DRB

T>une(mian 2007-08

Caffinites house report

The term "House Pride" was the first thing that came to my mind when I was asked to sum up The

Caffinites House. O ver the past few years, The Caffinites has evolved into a successful and close-knit com m u­nity, and it is clear that each o f the 117 o f us is fiercely proud o f the red and black which we wear. M r Hal- lam and his tutor team have done an exceptional job inspiring all o f us with the values of loyalty and pride, and their hard work is certainly re­flected by the positive atmosphere in the House and our impressive suc­cess.

The first competition o f the year came in the form of House M usic, which we confidently approached as reigning champions. The com peti­tion saw an incredible am ount o f ef­fort from each and every m em ber of the house as the lads pulled together, unquestioningly giving up much of their free time to rehearse. My thanks must especially go to Andrew Barratclough, Luke Westgate and the members of the part song for their sterling efforts. Unfortunately, the decisions on the night d idn’t go our way and we ended up in third place, despite the obvious strength o f our two unison songs and our high scor­ing part song. Nevertheless we were gracious in defeat and the boys can look forward to trying to match the high standard of our previous visit to the Sage when the competition re­turns there next year.

The efforts shown by the House in the Easter Term ’s Dunelm and Swainston Runs were a testam ent to our fantastic house spirit. The infa­mous “Caffinites W arm-Up” was fiercely carried out, gathering many positive comm ents from staff and in­spiring our junior lads to take up 7 of the top 10 places in the Swainston; special congratulations must go to Lewis Hall who won the event. The day ended in great success with us winning both the Swainston and the Removes Runs by clear margins.The House Rowing and Squash com ­petitions saw yet more great efforts from the House, with notable contri­butions coming from Phil Blenkin- sop, George Bryant and Oliver

Holmes. Well done to all those who helped to organise and take part.

Next cam e the House General Knowledge Com petition, and even the appearance o f Maxwell Edge in the team couldn’t stop us from win­ning the event for the 8th consecutive year. Full credit must go to our team captain Alex Grant, who won more points by him self than the House in second place!House Swimming saw another com ­fortable victory for the House as we convincingly won every section of the competition and showed yet again our formidable spirit. My thanks go to Andrew Barratclough for organis­ing the teams. A special mention must also go to Lewis Banks, whose sheer athleticism gave us all a master class in the art o f relay-swim ming.

Junior House Dram a came in the last week of the year, and we certainly continued our tradition o f success in the theatre. The expert direction team of Fenwick and Seym our was surely the catalyst of our success, as the Removes were placed as a close 2nd with the hilarious “The Last Scot” and the Shell won their com pe­tition with the hard hitting "B ert” . Notable perform ances cam e from Michael W hite and Ben Cronin, who look set to be stars o f the future. Un­fortunately, the senior dram a com pe­tition w asn’t scheduled this year, which was a great shame, given the wealth of talent in the senior end of the House. The H ouse’s sporting cre­dentials have never been in doubt, and this year has been no different, especially given the convincing na­ture o f our victory in the Inter House Athletics; the fact that no fewer than17 of our lads have represented the successful 1st XI Cricket team have also perform ed exceptionally well and are a credit to the House and the School.The final competition of the year cam e on the last day o f term as House Cricket. Captain Will Cleaver led by exam ple with both bat and ball and a superb team effort saw us beat Poole House in the last over o f the final to clinch a well deserved title.

I would like to express my gratitude to the whole of the Upper Sixth for their support and enthusiasm throughout the year, especially to Richard Gregory and Max Edge for the help they have given me. A big thank you must go to our tutor, Mr Renshaw, for putting up with us throughout the year; his advice and guidance has been invaluable.Unfortunately, the end of the Christ­mas Term saw M r Tween leave us.He has been sorely missed through­out the rest of the year and I would like to thank him for his enthusiasm and positive attitude, which he showed especially through his work with the junior side of the house; on behalf of every Caffinite, I would like to wish him the very best of luck o f the future. A further thank you must go to M r Fordyce, M r Camp­bell, M r Baldwin, Mr Kime and M r Burgess for their excellent work as House Tutors; 1 know that their ef­forts are appreciated by every year group. My final words o f thanks must go to Mr Hal lam, whose deter­mination and competitive spirit have been an inspiration to every Caffinite. He is enormously well respected in the House and his hard work has cer­tainly been reflected by the fantastic spirit that has developed amongst the lads.

It is with great sadness that I leave the House this year, but I will always look back on my time as a Caffinite, and the success and friendships it has brought me, with a great deal of pride. I would like to wish my suc­cessor as next year’s Head of House, George Bryant, the very best o f luck;I know that he will receive the same support and sense of pride as I have and that The Caffinites will continue to go from strength to strength.

Alex Duell.

Dunefmian 2007-08

School House house report

In a year that saw several senior members o f staff leave Durham

School, School House suffered a more personal loss: Mr Jones. He was known by many names around the school, be it “Papa Jo” , M r Jones, or even Kim. No matter the name, he was known as an entertaining, fair, and quirky man who made my four years in the House a thoroughly en­joyable experience. One particular memory was his message to the boys to stop playing with balls in their studies, as it would only cause dam ­age to something, or even someone. I would like to thank Mr. Jones for his efforts during my time in Durham School and 1 would think Bungites past and present would echo these sentiments.

W hile not being the most athletic or musically gifted house, School House would always strive to have fun in whatever we did and in the past year, this was the case again. The highlight of the year, in many eyes, is the House singing com peti­tion and one talking point of this year was the robbery of the title from School House due to some choreog­raphy during the impassioned rendi­tion of “Lord of the Dance” . This harsh disqualification meant the ef­

forts o f the boys in the part song were for nought but their cover of "Barbara Ann" with Hawaiian shorts and all, certainly left a lasting impression.

The fortunes o f the House looked like changing at the cross­country event. With a 98% turnout for the House, a confident Matthew Hand and an inspired Adam Rich leading the way, we felt a win was on the cards. Sadly, despite the excellent 2nd and 5th place finishes of M atthew and Dan Ciam polillo, we still failed to triumph and some even failed to finish the race. Unfortu­nately, another spirited performance in the House Athletics resulted with the House being empty handed yet again.

Thankfully, there were sev­eral noteworthy perform ances in the less glamorous inter-house events. The water-polo players won their competition with exceptional per­form ances coming from Lewis- Cun­ningham Robinson, Jonny Lowden and Matthew Hand: again. The senior boys regained the House squash title with whitewash victories for Jonny Brooke and myself. Both Ryan Tall and M atthew Turnball provided cru­cial points towards the coveted title. As rowing goes from strength to

strength at Durham School, Tom Ed­wards, Sam Ciam polillo, and Jack Deverson deserve special recognition for representing the school in numer­ous regattas and winning their fair share o f races as well. Tom ’s efforts have resulted in his receiving try outs for the GB team: an excellent achievement.

On the social side o f events this year, both the House Suppers and barbeques were highly entertaining and enjoyable affairs. With the high­lights being “Just a M inute” and the highlight o f the barbeque, perhaps the year, was Mr. W ilson’s now infamous “Turkey Joke” something that will live in the memory o f all those who were present.

That just leaves me to thank some people. Firstly, to Anne and all the cleaners for their tireless work in keeping the House inhabitable and to Mr. Jones for not only this year but for the many years that he was Housemaster. Finally, I would like to wish good luck to Mr. Alderson in his tenure as Housem aster and Toby Bain as the next Head of House.

Mark Owen

‘Dunelm ian 2007-08

Poole House house report

The first m ajor com petition o f the year was House M usic. Even though the previous com petition was

held at The Sage, this year's competition was just as important to us. David Quinn and Robert Sims were key figures in ensuring that our reputation in this competition rem ained intact. They led from the front, particularly in our part song, which was possibly the most impressive I have heard in my time in Poole House. By the end o f the night, as a house, we had done ourselves proud.At the start of the Easter term it was the Inter-House Indoor Rowing Com petition. Jam es Pinner and Phil Anderson displayed solid perform ances and set a perfect exam ple to the rest o f the boys with their high level o f com m itm ent. Even boys who hadn't had much experience in row'ing thrived in this com petition such as our South African duo, Kieran Forsyth and Greg Turner. Leading up to the m id-point o f the academic year was House Cross Country. A lot o f the boys (including myself- shock horror) had been preparing for this event. From the Swainston Run a num ber o f boys stepped up and produced excellent perform ances such as Robbie Griffin and Henry Pemberton both finishing in very respectable positions. The Dunelm Run saw an even stronger perform ance as a house. M ore than10 o f the boys finished in the top 20, with Khalil Thom pson leading the way, breaking a course record. The most impressive statistic about the whole competition was that our turn out for the Dunelm Run was 100% and this shows the high level of commitment and pride the boys have.

Early in the sum m er term we had our Inter-House W ater Polo Com petition. The Juniors won their com petition, as did the Inters. A high am ount of credit is due to Fraser Kirkley who helped organise the Juniors and who was also a key figure in the Inters 1 The Seniors put up a fantastic display

beating Caffinites and then went on to draw with a School House team that had the majority o f its team made up o f 1st team water polo players. As a result of a brilliant performance the Senior team came joint 1 st with School House.A few weeks later we were back in the pool for the House Swimming Competition. M atthew Calvert swam extremely well for the Juniors who finished in 2nd place. Gavin Dingley, Daniel Spence and Stewart Kirkley did a brilliant job in organising the Inters and the Seniors and all three boys were a valuable addition to the Senior team.Soon after half term was the House Athletics Competition. The House was captained superbly by Stu W oodhouse who him self had, as ever, been putting in hard hours at the gym in order to thrive in this competition. We won the majority of the separate year group competitions but unfortunately an individual year group performance by Caffinites ensured that they won the competition on a points system.The last competition of the year was House Cricket. Having been winners of this competition the last 3 years on the trot made us even more determined to continue the trend. We played School House in the morning and won fairly comfortably. Caffinites also beat School House in the early afternoon game and this meant a 'winner takes a l l ' match between ourselves and Caffinites would close proceedings for the day. We batted first and posted a respectable score. Noticeable performances o f younger boys came from George Robinson and Robbie Griffin, both showing their potential for the future of this competition. We went out to field knowing that our total would not be the easiest to defend. In the end, Caffinites deservedly Gust about) won with a few balls to spare. Credit should go to all the lads with their on-going efforts to the very last ball. Michael Turns and Will Paxton deserve a particular mention for their captaincy and all­round performance.I would like to thank M r Younger for

his continuous support of the house as Junior Housem aster and resident tutor. Often enough, even when he isn't on duty, he will offer to take the boarders up to The Budworth to play football in the evening. He doesn't have to do this, but this shows his high level of comm itm ent in ensuring that all the boys in Poole House are able to take part in such activities. I would also like to thank M r Duff.He too comes in on an evening to entertain us with his football skills. I wish him and his wife, Mrs Duff, all the best for the future when they move into Poole House in September 2009. Mr Burke. Mr Mason, Mr Bedworth. Mr Williamson, Mr Best and Mr Gardener, may I also thank you all for your help as tutors to the house. A high level of thanks is due to Helen, our matron. She is a fantastic asset to the house. She puts on supper every evening, which was a delight for me! In assistance to Helen is Ivy. She does all our laundry which is done very punctually and efficiently and she is a lovely person to see in the house. Karl, Ivy's husband, also takes the boys to play football on most evenings and we are very grateful to him for this.Finally, to Mr & Mrs Bushnell. I can't imagine my time in Poole House been any better. I would like to personally thank him for all his help and guidance over the years. Mr Bushnell's trustworthy yet controlled attitude to all individuals in the house is something that makes him a superb Housemaster. I wish M r & Mrs Bushnell all the best for the future w herever it may be. My best wishes go to Myles Green (my successor), David Quinn and Stu Woodhouse for their leading roles in the house and school.

To the boys in Poole House, keep winning, but most importantly, keep smiling!

Harry Booth UV1

T>une(viian 2007-08

MacLeod House house report

Once again M acLeod has en­joyed another year o f fun, ex ­citem ent and wins on every level. It

is hard to believe that we are only 3 years old as a house, when the cam araderie is so strong and established. With a great team o f m onitors, we had EJ Saxby and Becky M ad- dison taking the reins o f Head and Deputy Head of House, to steer the M ack- ies into another successful year.

Sport seems to be a strength in this house and this year did not disappoint our trophy cabinet. We can safely say that this year's M acleod sport was very successful. We started off our year with the g irls ' inter-house hockey; playing in the cold condi­tions w asn’t very easy. H ow ever we pulled through as a house and won

again both categories. A trem endous effort from Emily Birkett. Becky Storey and Jenny Earl to

secure this fabulous result. There was a great house spirit in the senior cricket; not usually played by our g irls, yet everyone played to their best abilities to win. O ur netball team s provided win both jun io r and interm ediate and finally, we took

lar adverts, created much am use­m ents for girls and guests, how ­

ever it was the party games which created the most excite­ment for the night. Mr Gerrard was not afraid to look silly, w hilst being dressed in new spa­per to mim ic Rudolph in a high speed team event. Pass the bottle becam e incredible com petitive, with little M iss Dougall literally snatching victory from Gabby M inchella, and the potato and string race raised some eyebrow s due to the m otion required to propel the veg across the floor.

with exceptional skills from Sophia Ward. The cross country was next, which we dom inated by winning both the Swainston run and the sen­ior Dunelm; with first p laces for Jess O 'C onnor and E-J Saxby. As a treat for w inning the cross-country so convincingly, our H ousem istress arranged a pizza and DVD night in our common room, having "Run Fat Boy Run” as the topical watch. The girls carried on this success in the swim ming and water polo; w inning

home the sports day trophy.

Every year Mrs Thom pson along with her tutors, organises nights out for us. The Pancake H ouse was the main attraction in 2008 for many year groups, with the sixth form ers enjoying pizza and pasta at Ask. O ther m em orable nights have in ­cluded our Christm as suppers which left many aching bellies from the laughs generated. A unique Harry Potter song and a send-up o f popu-

<EK ‘DuneCmian 2007-08

The MacLeod garden was the setting o f this years House BBQ. Our thanks go to M r Thom pson and Mr Davis for sweating over the barbeque and supplying the hungry M ackie’s with a true feast. Surprisingly, no one was sick after all the food consumed coupled with a vigorous stint in the

managed to come third overall which was a tremendous achievem ent and som ething that every m em ber o f the house was responsible for. There were two girls however, that particularly stood out; Harriet Brooks (YrlO) who conducted the perform ances and helped with the

sumo suits. Emily Reader took her sumoing very seriously and challenged Jess Hannah in a lengthy battle on the mats, which supplied much entertainment.

House music this year was held in the chapel. As a team we chose to sing "You C an't Hurry Love” by The Supremes as our House Song, “Lean on M e” by Bill W ithers as our Part Song, and “God Is Our Strength and Refuge" as our hymn. MacLeod

rehearsals and Zoe Jackson (Yr 8) who was the youngest member to sing in our Part Song.Drama was also a focus this year with the Shell and Juniors fronting some fine plays. Chloe Deighton wrote a version o f Snow W hite and the Seven Dwarves and got her mum to help with the costumes, which were brilliant! Lucy Pedley was awarded best actress in the Shell category for her role as the evil queen and the prince. Bugsy Malone was the title

played out by our juniors, with Carri Ledden putting on a great performance in her role. Time and effort, long rehearsals and true commitment was given by all involved.

We say goodbye to Miss Snaith who moves onto pastures new and Mrs Proud who moves back to Pimlico for her sins. We of course would like to thank all our tutors and house staff for their support, organisation and good humour this year, and for making this another great year for the Mackies!

Special thanks must of couse go to Mrs Thompson our Housmistress for all her hard work and commitment during the year

Sixth Form er & NJT

‘D unelm ian 2007-08

house report

Pimlico House shows us why House Systems are continuing to be put in place today. In belonging to

such a house you learn qualities such as house spirit, team work and loyalty to your house which makes the school experience more enjoyable.

We opened our successful year by winning the first major House event in Durham School, the House Music Competition. With the enthusiasm and hard work put into many prac­tises from the goal driven girls it was clear Pim lico’s performances would be challenging to beat. A much de­served “thank you” goes to Christina Cuthbertson whom the House relied on for her excellent organisation and expert musical skills.

Pimlico decided to hold a “Charity Week” in which we held different events from cake sales to sponging members o f staff to raise money for our chosen 2 charities - “Genes for Jeans” and “SSAFA” . With much ap­preciated help and generosity from the Pimlico girls and tutors we man­aged to raise an impressive £860. Robyn Hornby put particular effort into the week to ensure its smooth running which helped motivate the rest of the house. Thanks go to Mrs Gibson and M r Best for volunteering to be sponged in stocks by pupils.

In the Easter Term Pim lico’s sporting excellence was demonstrated with an impressive win in the House Hockey. The seniors played a strong game with Katie Paxton making some im­pressive tackles to ensure the ball was kept on M cLeod’s half of the pitch. Good performances were also given by the girls in Years 7 and 8 to deserve the victory in the junior sec­

Juliet Slade

t o * Dunefm ian 2007-08 •

tion. We also won House Netball the following week maintaining our con­fidence and motivation.

Our rowers kept Pim lico’s reputation raised by winning the House Rowing Competition with Charlotte Gross­man taking first place comfortably.

I would like to thank all the Tutors and Matron for their continued sup­port and devotion to the House. Thanks obviously go to Mr and Mrs Gibson for their unlimited efforts and guidance. A final thank you goes to my fellow UVI housem ates, without their support and enduring work Pim­

lico would not have been so success­ful. It has been an honour to be "Head" of a house that has given me so much enjoym ent and I wish next year’s Head o f H ouse, Rebecca Hes- lop and all the girls another success­ful year.

Speech Day 2008Prize ListThe Kerr Memorial Prize for Ancient History Andrew BarratcloughThe Gawan-Taylor Prize for English Essay Andrew BarratcloughThe Richardson Bunbury Prize for Modern Languages shared Katy E. WillettThe Gough Prize for English Verse Christina E. CuthbertsonThe Special Prize for Services to Drama Christina E. CuthbertsonThe Henry Smith Prize for Physics Jamie Jones B.S.The Ian Nuttall Prize for Biology Jonny C. Brooke K.S.The Metcalf Prize for Mathematics shared Jonny C. Brooke K.S.The Metcalf Prize for Mathematics shared Y.H.(Alex) LaiThe Lowson and Salkeld Prize for Chemistry shared Rayan TallThe Lowson and Salkeld Prize for Chemistry shared T.H. (Jenny) ParkThe Hodgson Prize for English shared Richard J. GregoryThe Yuill Business Studies Prize shared Oliver W. HolmesThe Yuill Business Studies Prize shared Ryan MillerThe Kerr Memorial Prize for Modern History Kieran ForsythThe Morley-Wells Prize for Geography Sarah E. JonesThe Portwood Prize for Computer Studies Ben O.J. FlowersThe Ford Components Prize for Economics shared Ben O.J. FlowersThe Ford Components Prize for Economics shared Alexander C.S. Grant K.S.The Senior Prize for Music Alexander C.S. Grant K.S.The Robson Prize for Outstanding Contribution to the Sixth Form shared Alexander C.S. Grant K.S.The Robson Prize for Outstanding Contribution to the Sixth Form shared Maxwell W. EdgeThe C.H.A. Flowe Prize for Practical Skills Kim L. ConnorThe Senior Prize for Art Marcus A. HaworthThe Senior Media Studies Prize Ella R. DavisonThe Senior Theatre Studies Prize Ella R. DavisonThe Reader Trophy for Leadership Harry J.C. BoothThe Woodard Chaplain's Prize shared Harry J.C. BoothThe Senior Prize for Drama Henry W. B. CockburnThe Senior PE Prize Philip BlenkinsopThe Senior Prize for English Recitations Tim ParkinThe Vernon Ferens Award for Service to the Community Matthew L. Turnbull K.S.The Whitfield Prize Jamie Oyebade B.S.L6 Mathematics Prize shared Robert G. WestonL6 Mathematics Prize shared Sinead B.J. McKenna Favier B.S.L6 Physics Prize Natalie H. CarrollThe Fred Hurrell Prize for Music Natalie H. CarrollL6 Biology Prize Guy L. NeedhamL6 Chemistry Prize Guy L. NeedhamThe Special Prize for Excellence in English shared Guy L. NeedhamThe Special Prize for Excellence in English shared Jessica J. Hannah B.S.L6 Economics Prize Jessica J. Hannah B.S.L6 Art Prize Jessica J. Hannah B.S.The Tom Percival Prize for History Jessica J. Hannah B.S.The Scott Latimer Prize for Modern Languages shared Jessica J. Hannah B.S.The Scott Latimer Prize for Modern Languages shared Gregg CathraeL6 Business Studies Prize shared Matthew W. HandL6 Business Studies Prize shared Daniel J. SpenceL6 Business Studies Prize shared Jessica K. GrahamslawL6 Ancient History Prize Toby A.M. Bain K.S.L6 Geography Prize Toby A.M. Bain K.S.The Rayner Prize for Religious Studies James A. WhitburnL6 Computer Studies Prize Jonathan M. PyeL6 Design & Technology Prize shared Lewis G. Cunningham-RobinsonL6 Design & Technology Prize shared Philip R.A. ChapmanL6 Media Studies Prize Rebecca F. HeslopL6 Theatre Studies Prize Rebecca F. HeslopL6 PE Prize Samantha J. HarrisonYear 11 Prize Alexander L. Turnbull

Dunefm ian 2007-08

Speech Day 2008The Stationers' Prize for Printing shared Alexander L. TurnbullYear 11 Prize Jack R.C. Deverson K.S.The Stationers' Prize for Printing shared Jack R.C. Deverson K.S.The Junior Art Prize Johanna K. KellettThe Middle School Drama Cup Scott C. GimbyThe Middle School Prize for Music shared Alastair J. Galbraith-BrownThe Middle School Prize for Music shared Graham J. Thorpe K.S.Year 10 Prize Benjamin A. Robinson K.S.Year 10 Prize Harriet R. Brooks K.S.The Junior Prize for English Recitations Matthew A. PyeYear 9 Prize George F.C. Robinson K.S.Year 9 Prize Jonathan P. Simpson K.S.Year 8 Prize Catherine A. HandThe Keeton Prize for Removes Music shared Matthew CalvertThe Keeton Prize for Removes Music shared Zoe G. JacksonThe Junior Drama Cup Zoe G. JacksonYear 7 Prize Poppy C.E. HannahThe Johnson Perkins Prize for Fieldwork in Biology in the Removes shared Mark RaceThe Johnson Perkins Prize for Fieldwork in Biology in the Removes shared Ryan D. HarlandThe Johnson Perkins Prize for Fieldwork in Biology in the Removes shared Toby W. SimpsonThe Bell Twins Prize in the Lower Remove Toby W. SimpsonThe Removes Prize for English Recitations Robyn A. PlaceThe Robin Myerscough Cup for Singing David E. QuinnThe Chadeyron Music Junior Competition To be announcedThe Chadeyron Music Intermediate Competition To be announcedThe Chadeyron Music Senior Competition To be announcedThe Hodgson Prize for English shared Alexander C. Duell K.S.The Richardson Bunbury Prize for Modern Languages shared Alexander C. Duell K.S.The Woodard Chaplain's Prize shared Alexander C. Duel! K.S.Headmaster's Prize Alexander C. Duell K.S.

a y 'Dunefmian 2007-08

Headmaster's Report - Speech Day

Speech Day 2008

General The Lord Ram sbotham , Lady Ram sbotham , The Hon­ourable Jam es Ram sbotham , Chairm an, G overnors, ladies and gentlem en.

Let me too begin by welcoming you to Durham School’s annual Speech Day and Prizegiving. In particular may I echo the Chairm an’s words o f wel­come to our two distinguished guests. There are many renowned double acts in history: younger pupil minds will leap naturally to Ant and Dec, while I prefer to think of pairings like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, or, better still, Margo Fonteyn and Rudolph Nureyev, or Joan Sutherland and Lu­ciano Pavarotti. Now to that list add the father and son duo of Lord Rams­botham and the Honourable James Ramsbotham.

Lord Ramsbotham was educated at Haileybury and Corpus Christi Col­lege, Cambridge, before embarking on a distinguished 35 year career in the army, retiring in the rank of General in 1993. In 1995 he became Her M ajesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons, a position he held for 6 years. He has been a crossbench member of the House of Lords since May 2005. I am delighted to be able to reciprocate the hospitality that he kindly showed to Mrs Kern and to me some 9 or 10 years ago: it is our privilege to wel­come you to Durham School today.

It is a great pleasure, too, to welcome James Ramsbotham back to Durham School: he was the School’s banker and financial advisor when I started here in 1997 and I am delighted to see him here today at the other end of my time as Headmaster. We missed James greatly when he moved on in his career, after 14 years in banking, in turn after he had, like his father previ­ously, served in the Royal Green Jack­ets. He is now Chief Executive of the North-East Chamber of Commerce.

James has kindly agreed to speak to us today after Lord Ram sbotham has presented the prizes. I am not sure who persuaded whom to do what, and who has drawn the short straw, but I suspect that Dad has done well.

In this annual report I want to, and indeed need to, cover four main areas: I need to look back over this year and the previous ten years; I need to say some thank yous; I need to com m ent on some specific leavers; and finally I want to make a few personal observations. The ideal would be to weave these four strands into a single co-ordinated whole and to avoid all semblance of four lists. However desirable, the weaving challenge was too great and so, for the first time in 11 years, I offer no theme and have opted for lists. I don’t feel entirely com fortable with this - a head’s speech should be greater than the sum of its contents, but pragm atism had to win out in the end. For those who anticipated finely honed oratory, I apologise but there is too much to say and too much o f it is too important to have to fit any pattern but its own.

So what has happened this year? A c­adem ically. the A level results from last year had some very pleasing as­pects. not least the 100% pass rate, whixh is really quite an achievement. The GCSE results were on a par with recent years but there is more to do in this area. The new programm e is helping in terms o f the academ ic/non-academ ic balance, al­though some ethos shift is still re­quired, and the new targeting and monitoring processes, aided by our new and developing Information M anagem ent system , represent work in progress, with the full impact yet to be felt.

On the sports fields and on the water we have seen our usual m ix o f w in­

som e/lose-som e in a w ide variety o f sports and fix tures. It w asn’t the best season for rugby results but these things com e and go in cycles and the U 12s won the Durham C ounty tournam ent and the U15s reached the 5th round o f the Daily M ail C up. T here were 13 County rep resen tatives and 2 pupils rep re­sented the North o f E ngland. There have been some excellent cricket resu lts, how ever, from a fairly young 1st XI in particular. It has been a great year for g ir ls ’ sport, though, with the 1st XI and the U 14 girls hockey w inning their re ­spective C ounty C ups, and the U 13 hockey side reached the sem i-finals o f the national m ini-hockey com pe­tition . Fifteen g irls have repre­sented the county for hockey, w hich is the highest figure ever. In netball, the 1st VII won the area tournam ent and lost only one gam e.

The Boat C lub has continued its upw ard rise w ith Tom Edw ards gaining international selection (the second year running a D urham School pupil has achieved this d is­tinction .) W ith 11 pupils selected for regional represen tation , with the first g irls eight that anyone can rem em ber and with the boys eight at H enley in a challenge cup for the first tim e in over 20 years, it has been an excellent year for Durham School row ing.

Durham School's M usic is going through a glorious golden patch that looks set to continue for some tim e. There is a fabulous w ealth o f talent, m uch still located in the m iddle and low er part o f the School as well as in the Sixth Form . The concerts have been excellent, the Jazz Night in February quite exceptional, as well as M usic for a Sum m er’s Evening. This w eek’s Chadeyron M usic Com petition saw over one fifth o f the pupils (i.e. over a hun­dred ind iv iduals) taking part.

'Dunelmian 2007-08

Headmaster's Report

House Music too proved that music at Durham School is not ju st for a select few, and the regular singing in Chapel is often (but why not al­ways?) superb. A comm ent to the pupils: D on’t lose it - you have something rare and special in the Durham School Chapel singing, don’t let it erode away.

In Drama we have seen House Jun­ior plays just this week, with many high-quality pupil-w ritten, pupil-di­rected and pupil-perform ed produc­tions. There have been some excellent perform ances via the ex­amined curriculum Dram a and, of course, “G odspell” towards the end o f the Easter Term. It is difficult for me to com m ent objectively given my involvem ent as director but we had an exceptionally talented cast, excellent lighting from M r Singleton and M r Stephens, and a fine band. I ’d challenge any School, and many a professional com pany, to put on a “G odspell” in that space with that freshness, energy and quality.

Much else has gone on as well. The CCF in its first voluntary year has been more active and probably more popular than ever and the cadets are about to go on cam p in Cornwall. The Duke o f Edinburgh Award has been running more efficiently than for many years, under the guidance of Mrs Sockett. There has been hill walking with M r Jones and his team every half term . We have had World Challenge, peer support, the pupil magazine and a host o f regular and ad hoc activities. There have been all sorts o f trips: rowing in Belgium , Kenya/Uganda with World C hal­lenge last summer, pre-season rugby training in France this summer, cricket in Hong Kong at Easter, ad­venture training in Scotland and many more.

So that’s a look at the last year, and

in a sense it has been business as usual, that com bination o f academ ic teaching and learning, and also par­ticipation in some other broadening and skill-developing pastim es; whole person stuff not just brain- stuff; and that makes Durham School different.

I want to look back now beyond this past year to the last 11 years and to offer some thanks to many people, whose contribution this year has been no less than before.

Let me start with facilities and the physical. Eleven years ago there were areas of Durham School, espe­cially in the depths o f School House, that would have failed any inspec­tion by our guest o f honour when he was C hief Inspector o f Prisons. Frankly, some o f the areas would have been condem ned by the Kennel Club. They said that British O ffi­c e r’s who becam e POW s in the 2nd World W ar in places like Colditz survived because they had already experienced far worse in their houses at school - w ell, w hoever said it had a point or was an Old Dunelm ian, probably a Bungite.

But no longer - Durham School, and School H ouse, have been refur­bished virtually from top to bottom and we can feel justifiab ly proud of our physical am bience, not to m en­tion o f the new creations, such as the lC T C entre, the Library ICT Suite, M acLeod H ouse, the all- w eather p itch , som e o f the new fa ­cilities at Bow and such like. For this and much more I w ould like to thank G eoff S im pson, D evelopm ent D irector, Bryan H unter, our Estates M anager, and the fabulous M ainte­nance and G rounds Team . Sadly we do not yet have at Durham School a culture am ongst all our pupils o f proper regard for our en ­vironm ent and some o f the M ain te­nance team ’s efforts are forced into

a “Forth Road B ridge" model by pupil abuse - th e re ’s a challenge for you, and one you have heard about from me before today.

T here are five o ther groups o f peo­ple in addition to the M aintenance Team who help to keep the School going on a daily basis - Colin Looker, our tireless Printing M an­ager; our three w onderful M edical Centre nurses; our financial and secretarial adm inistrative staff; our IT. DT and Science Technicians; and our outstanding catering team , led by M rK irk A lderson, with D eb­bie B ennett and Sharon Taylor and their staff o f chefs, assistants, servers and cleaners, forem ost am ongst whom is Anne M cLauch- lan, who has kept my office looking neat and tidy, despite my efforts to the contrary. D urham School food is good. At H ead 's functions many Schools cater by using restaurants;I ju st say to K irk , ‘G ive me restau ­rant q u a lity ’ , the kitchens oblige and we eat better the rest.

Durham School num bers were at a record high this year. This is due to many people, and many different things have contributed to it, but in no small part the rising num bers over m any years (up in all bar one of the last 10 years) are the result of the w ork, dedication and creativity o f M r Rodney Thom as (our M arket­ing D irector) and M rs N icola M c­Cann: D urham School owes them a great deal.

W hen M r E veratt and I visited Hong K ong each year from 1998 to 2000, we m anned a stall at a m as­sive education exhib ition . One of our prize photographs was o f D urham City from the air. The H ong Kong parents were im pressed by this photo as we explained how ancient the city was. We would point out the School and the C athe­dral.

Thinefmian 2007-08

Headmaster's Report

We would explain that the Prime Minister of England, Tony Blair, had been educated at the Cathedral Cho­rister School, just across the river from us. If you will excuse me doing the accent (but then I have done Welsh, Irish, Scottish and many other accents here over the years), the fam ­ily would then consult in a huddle and the reply would come back: “Tony Brair, who this M ista Brair?” Slightly taken aback, we would say: ‘Well, another pupil from that school was M r Bean’. “Ah, M issa Bean’’, and then there would be another fam ­ily huddle, and then: “M issa Bean - We send our childen your school, we sign now.”

W hat makes a school good? The fact that it produces future prime minis­ters? Apparently not. That it pro­duces someone who com m unicates in a universal language - yes. I have often wondered what makes Durham School special, because it undoubt­edly is ......? I have yet to come upwith the definitive answer and if I had I would have written the book, marketed it to the independent sector, and retired long ago on the proceeds. One thing I am certain of, though, is that a significant piece o f the jig-saw is the staff.

Eleven years ago Durham School staff numbered in the middle 30s and I pruned that number out of necessity for a year or two. There are now 50 full-time teachers, partly in response to increased pupil numbers and partly as a result of a bigger curriculum and a better offering. Durham School’s academic results are at a significantly higher level than they were a decade ago and I have no doubt that they will rise further. For this, and for their dedication and com m itm ent, I thank the teaching staff. These characteris­tics are no better exem plified in a teacher than in Mrs Proud, who runs our professional developm ent pro­gramme, and our NQT and GTP

training, and runs them exceptionally well. Mrs Proud today completes 25 years at Durham School and I would like to mark that occasion by asking her to come forward to receive a presentation from the Chairm an of Governors.

The same staff that do the teaching also provide the extra-curricular pro­gramme and here I would like to thank M r M ason, Director of Sport, Mrs Dougall. in charge o f g irls’ gam es, M r Gerrard and the other full-time PE and games staff, M r Jam es, Mrs Connor, M r Fishwick, Mrs Sweeting, Mr Hirsch. Mr W illiamson, Mr Singleton and the others who help with or run this sport or that. Thanks, too, to M r Muttitt and M r Duff for Durham School’s Music and thanks to our superb band o f peripatetic music teachers: the fact that the School’s music is out­standing is not an accident. Thanks to Mrs Gibson for her work in Drama; to M r Jones, M r Atkinson and the CCF Officers; to M r Jones, Mr Kime and M r W allace, and in the past M r Burgess, who provide most o f the adventurous training expertise and staffing.

It is the same teaching staff who also provide the pastoral support, be that as Tutors for the majority, as Junior, Assistant or Senior Housem asters or m istresses. Their dedication and work cem ents the various aspects of the Durham School experience to­gether to provide the best for individ­ual pupils. The Government is currently consulting the education sector about providing for pupil well­being; mainly via our House staff we at Durham School have long been there and already wear the T-shirt with pride. The Houses are undoubt­edly one o f the pieces in the “what makes Durham School special" jig ­saw.

The same staff also provide all the

academ ic and o ther m anagem ent at various levels, with all the adm inis­trative and o ther dem ands that go with that, and I thank them and the pastoral staff fo r all that they do.

One o ther piece in the jigsaw is the C hapel, under the guidance o f our w onderful C haplain , M rs de Lange. Perhaps not appreciated fully by pupils when here, but defin itely significant in the m em ories o f Old D unelm ians, the Chapel is the spir­itual and ethos hub o f the School; our trad itions and our values (val­ues that increasingly are peripheral to an ever m ore am oral society) ra ­diate out from that physical and m ental p lace. There is a Chapel Service as part o f this Speech D ay’s p rogram m e, at 11.45 a.m. today. I w ould urge all parents to attend, and to be there for tw o rea­sons. F irstly , to sam ple for your­selves this sign ifican t elem ent of the School and secondly because during the service we will be ded i­cating new chancel furn itu re, choir stall lighting and the designs for a group o f wall hangings, all given in m em ory o f M atthew C ourtney, Old D unelm ian, who left the School in 1998 to study at O xford and later pursue a career in law, and who died in tragic circum stances aboutI 8 m onths ago. M atthew was a part o f the D urham School com m u­nity and it is right for as many of that com m unity as possible to be there in Chapel today and to re­m em ber him - he was certainly som eone who extracted the m axi­mum out o f what the School had to offer and who gave a great deal back as well.

And now it’s tim e to say som ething about our leavers. The U pper Sixth pupils as a group have contributed hugely to the School in their time here, be that through the exercise o f their academ ic prowess; their m usi­cal, sporting or thespian talent;

Thinelm ian 2007-08

Headmaster's Reporttheir leadership.... o f team s, in the CCF and in the Houses. Particular thanks go to the School Monitors and to this year’s Head o f School, Alex Duell. Young people often get a bad press nowadays - the journalists clearly haven’t met this group.Thank you to all the Upper Sixth and to any other leaving pupils. Please stay in touch with the School in the years to come.

We say farewell to several staff: to our PGCE students (Miss Telfer,Miss Howard and M iss Ace); to Mrs Saadi after two terms with the Learn­ing Support Department; to Miss Snaith, who has been at the School for just over a year, in the RS Depart­ment; to Miss Taylor, a welcome ad­dition to the Econom ics and Business Studies Department and Resident Tutor in Pimlico for two years, who takes up a position at The Leys School; to Mr and Mrs G ibson, for three years teachers o f Media Studies and Theatre Studies respectively, and Housemaster and Mistress of Pim­lico..

Then we come to M r Gibbon. Mr Gibbon leaves after 18 years, so began here before any Upper Sixth pupil other than any with a 1st of September birthday was born. Mr Gibbon came to Durham School to set up the IT Department and presided over its progress from one room with 15 old BBC machines to an IT Centre with 45 up-to-date PCs, before handing the Department over in order to combine IT teaching with Maths teaching, which is where he began his career. Mr Gibbon is our Exams Officer, an increasingly com ­plex and demanding task that he does with huge efficiency: a tutor, in charge of Squash, Mr Gibbon has been a wonderful, self-effacing and good-humoured colleague, a gentle man and a gentleman. We wish him

all the best as he retires from teaching but continues on a part-time basis as our Examinations Officer.

Mr Burgess joined Durham School 28 years ago, before some Bow Pre- Prep parents were born. M r Burgess is Head o f Biology and Head o f Sci­ence, and has been for more years than we can count. He has been at the centre o f Durham School adven­turous training and was a CCF O ffi­cer and Com manding Officer of the Contingent for much o f his time here. He has been a tutor and is best de­scribed as a gentleman and a teacher of the old school - a thoroughly dedi­cated, professional school master. I thank him and Mr Gibbon for their combined 46 years o f service to Durham School and would ask you to show your appreciation for all that they have done.

Last on my list o f leaving staff is Mr John Everatt, who single-handedly has been at Durham School nearly as long as Mr Gibbon and Mr Burgess com bined. Mr Everatt joined Durham School before some o f our Year 7 parents were born and has completed 37 years at the School. W hen he arrived in 1971 there were some 20 staff only, who all lived on site or within 3 miles o f the School. All day pupils lived within 3 miles and all stayed at School till 9.00 p.m ., M onday to Friday, and were here all day on Saturday. Mr Everatt has taught C lassics, been Head of the Classics Departm ent; he was H ouse­m aster o f Ferens (the separate Year 7-8 boys boarding and day house) and then Housem aster of Poole House for 13 years, in the days when Poole housed some 80-plus boarding pupils. M ore recently Mr Everatt has been D irector o f Studies and Assistant Deputy Head (Curricu­lum). As a H ousem aster he was sup­ported by his wife, Christine, and

they form ed a superb pastoral team. We owe them both, but especially Mr Everatt, a huge debt of gratitude. Sadly, there are few o f his like left in teaching, and we all wish him a long and thoroughly deserved retirement. Ladies and gentlem en, Mr John Everatt.

And finally, just a few personal rem i­nisces and thoughts if, as a leaver m yself, I may be permitted that in­dulgence. As hinted at by the Chair­m an, there are some significant challenges ahead. Huge changes are taking place just in terms o f the cur­riculum as we currently know it.Even bigger and far more significant changes are being talked about that could radically alter that very cur­riculum , be that from II - 14 or 14 - 19. Diplomas represent an area with massive possible consequences.The world o f education is changing very, very fast indeed and, whilst in­dependence will protect Durham School from some of these changes, it will not protect the School from all, so change is vital. There are some unresolved issues that the School has been working on. som e­times over a num ber o f years, and these need continuing. So change is inevitable: I would urge you all to accept it and em brace it as it hap­pens.

Next I want to thank those few people with whom I have been lucky to work most closely, namely my fellow Sen­ior M anagers. Mr G eoff Simpson has been one o f that team for the shortest time but his energy, enthusiasm and wide ranging contribution to Durham School has been second to none. Mr Baird, Head of Bow School, has been an excellent colleague. Mrs Fiona Parker, described at our last inspec­tion as “ living INSET", is an inspira­tional teacher, a true professional and a great, warm -hearted colleague.

‘DuneCmian 2007-08

Headmaster's ReportMr Thomas I have mentioned before, but in addition was an outstanding languages teacher, is passionate about Durham School and is a tireless worker on behalf o f the School. M r John Everatt, I 've also mentioned al­ready, but John has been a great col­league, a huge repository of wisdom and of Durham School history. 1 thank them all.

Mr Best, my Deputy and a superb right-hand man, colleague, sounding board, source o f wisdom and advice; kind and good-hum oured. My partic­ular thanks go to Derek for his sup­port over the last 11 years and my best wishes go to him for the next two terms. He has been at Durham School for 25 years, as Head o f His­tory, Director o f Studies and Deputy Head and I would ask him to come forward to receive a presentation from the Chairman to mark that quar- ter-century anniversary and a distin­guished contribution to the School.

Lastly, at least by way of thanks, Mrs Susan Spence: Susan has been my PA for most of my years here. All of you present, pupils, parents, staff and governors, know Susan's value: in many ways, she is Durham School.In the absence of the Head, the School slows down a little: in her ab­sence, Durham School grinds to a halt. 1 w on 't embarrass Susan with an extended eulogy but I will say a heartfelt thank you. 1 will embarrass her just a little, however, although you must understand that I can only get away with this because I ’m leav­ing; and so I ask her to come forward to accept a deserved presentation.

Finally, I have greatly enjoyed living and working in the North East and in Durham City in particular. Before coming to Durham people in the Midlands warned me of the people in the North-East. At interview, even the Governors asked how I would

deal with North-Eastem ers. Imagine our delight to find that, although not a universal truth, the people here have been great. If I might quote from JRR Tolkien, ‘The Lord o f the R ings’ and B ilbo’s farewell speech at his long-expected party: “I don’t know half o f you half as well as I should like; and 1 like less than half o f you half as well as you deserve.”It has been a pleasure to have been at the helm o f Durham School and to have worked with some wonderful people. And, o f course, pupils: on average, exasperating though you may be at tim es, Durham School pupils, certainly in com parison with many other schools, are an outstand­ing group o f young people.

Finally, and in closing, there are two things I want to touch on from what you might call my ‘educational phi­losophy’, much as I hate that particu­lar term.

Firstly, I will miss the contact with pupils, even though as a Head you get very little o f it anyway. I want to refer back to ‘Les M iserables’, which in its own peculiar way was one of the greatest, if not the greatest “magic mom ent” within my career: there was certainly something very special about it (and, indeed, the star o f that show, Matthew Gent, is currently ap­pearing as Marius in the production o f ‘Les M is’ in London’s West End.) But there is a picture - it is taken at our dress rehearsal, o f the very final note of the show. The whole cast are on stage, arms held aloft, and what you see as you look at that particular photograph, and you see with ab­solute clarity, written plainly on the faces, is the triumph and the achieve­ment of those pupils: and that is what education is all about.

Secondly, I would like to quote from my sermon in Durham Cathedral at the half-term service in May (and

what a privilege it has been to be a part of services there four times each year.) W hat I want to say now is at the heart o f Durham School: it’s more important than A level results, than sports results, than talent dis­played, than facilities and processes.It is the essence o f a school like Durham - it has to be embraced and put into practice by every level of the Durham School community, starting with the Governing Body, then through senior staff and all staff to senior pupils and eventually on to all pupils..........

In that serm on, using the story of the Boer War battle o f Spion Kop as a vehicle, I posed the question as to what was each person's moral per­spective. There arc many aspects and many values that contribute to this but, essentially, I asked: "Do you treat others as you should or do you not?” And then went on to say this: “D on’t say that it doesn't matter how you treat others!” And, still quoting from that occasion: “ If I leave any message at Durham School from my11 years here, it is this: there is noth­ing more important than how you treat your fellow human beings, each and every day.” This is the essential lesson o f all human existence and therefore the absolute foundation of all education.

The world of education is, indeed, changing; Durham School has changed much in the last 11 years and it m ust change a great deal more in the next decade: but I hope that in this most crucial attribute, in the midst o f a society increasingly fo­cussed on self yet at odds with itself, Durham School will not change. And 1 hope that pupil achievement and personal trium ph will continue to be the School’s aspiration.

NG Kern

‘Dunefm ian 2007-0&

Chaplaincy

Chapel in 2008 is maybe best illus­trated in a series o f vignettes - little stories of events which stand out. Some were provided by visitors to chapel services ...

Visit o f Bishop TomOne Friday in February our preacher was the Rt Revd Tom W right, Bishop of Durham. After a sermon in chapel about the biblical meaining of the words ‘eternal life’ we moved down to the Lecture Theatre the bishop re­sponded to questions from a wide group of pupils, questions ranging from the personal (how do you cope with your workload?) to the theologi­cal (what does the Book of Revela­tion mean?). He spoke without notes, without hesitation and with great clar­ity. Afterwards he stayed to supper, talking to a small number of pupils

RemembranceIn early November the weather was fine but extremely windy, but the

wind dropped for a few hours on the evening o f Friday 9th, allowing us to mark Remem­brance Day in memorable fashion. In the chapel service the particular focus was on Monitors who had died during the two world

wars; a wreath was laid, the silence observed, the last Post and Reveille played by Phillip Tait, and we com ­mitted ourselves to working for peace in the future. At the close of the service 177 candles were lit in chapel - one for every name com ­m emorated on the chapel pillars. A wreath-laying party left chapel to stand by the plaque on Masters G reen; they were followed by those carrying candles, who lined the steps on both sides and stood in silence as the rem ainder o f school filed down in silence. It was a moving scene and a fitting tribute.

of their lively singing style and some glimpses of the realities of life in a country ravaged by HIV/Aids, one in

which young children care for sick relatives and bring up their siblings. It was inspiring and sobering at the same time.

and staff, before being given a short tour o f the School. We are very grateful to him for giving us precious time.

Visitors from LesothoThe scene was set by a talk from Mr Paul Jefferson, who knows Lesotho well. Lesotho is a small independent nation embedded in South Africa. Two weeks later a group of young Christians from Lesotho climbed chapel steps with their traditional blankets and hats, and gave us a taste

'Dunelmian 200/-0S

Chapel steps become EverestJodie Sym ington, who has cystic fi­brosis, spoke in chapel about her plans to complete the Tenzing-Hillary Everest M arathon Challenge. She in­spired us to set up an event which would accom plish the equivalent de­scent o f the marathon - though with­out the snow, ice and thin air. A walk up to and run down from Everest base Camp is the equivalent o f 108 descents of chapel steps, and a relay of pupils accom plished this one lunchtime, raising money for CF Trust in the process.

G race HouseThe Sum m er Term saw the launch of a new charity focus, not only for chapel but for the whole school. We will be raising funds until July 2009 for Grace House, a children’s hospice planned for Sunderland. This will fill a big gap in provision for chil­dren with life-lim iting conditions be­tween the Tyne and the Tees. In chapel Grace House is never far from our thoughts, and the Hot Potatoes discussion group held a series of com petitions one lunchtim e to raise money and awareness of the appeal.

O ther memorable mom ents came in the ‘usual run’ o f chaplaincy events.

ChaplaincyCathedral ServicesIn line with our normal pattern we were in the Cathedral four times during the year: for three services around half-term , and for the Carol Service. At one o f the half-term services the Headm aster challenged us to see life from different perspectives, as he told us a story of the battle of Spion Kop and the m onuments that have been erected on the battlefield.

Confirm ation ServiceAfter a term o f preparation sessions with me, eleven pupils were confirmed this year. Bishop Mark (the new Bishop of Jarrow) led the Cathedral service in June. They

Last but not least other

activities continued - the Hot Potatoes discussion group over lunch on Wednesday lunchtimes, visiting speakers in chapel, and a notable sum of money raised for charities through chapel collections alone. Over the year we raised £5664, and were able to send substantial cheques to various charities including Send a Cow, the Christmas appeal for a school in Uganda through the World Challenge expedition.Aids education in Lesotho, the Cystic

formerly connected with the school, with the dedication of new chancel furnishings and designs for four banners, given in memory of Matthew Courtney OD and Derek Hodgson (a former Governor o f the School).

Fibrosis Trust and of course Grace House.In conclusion I m ust say many thank yous - to all pupils who have taken part in services in both chapel and cathedral, and especially to those who planned and led each halfterm 's House Service; to staff who give a different slant by leading chapel services on Thursdays; and to the choir, musicians and staff of the Music Departm ent without whom chapel would not provide so many spine-tingling moments.

Anna de Lange (Chaplain)

were M onique Dingley (Yr I I , Pim lico), Myles Green (Yr 12, Poole), Jordan Grosert (Yr 7, Caffinites), Jessica Hannah (Yr 12, M acLeod), Savannah Holmes (Yr 8, Pimlico), Robyn Hornby ((Yr 13, Pimlico), Annabel Knowles (Y r7 , Pim lico), James Sm urthwaite (Yr 9, Caffinites), Juliet Slade (Yr 13, Pim lico), Harry Ward (Yr 7, Caffinites) and Michael W hite (Yr 8, Caffinites).

Speech DayThis year's Speech Day was particularly memorable. Two o f our ‘leavers’ were Neil and Ann Kern, in their last chapel service before retirement and the move to South Africa. We also paid tribute to people

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USIC NOTES

CHRISTM ASTERM

The first musical j occasion o f the

new academ ic year saw several of the school’s musicians perform ing on the occasion o f the Durham Independ­ent Schools’ Joint Exhibition at The Gates Shopping Centre in Durham on 29th September. A fortnight later the Big Band had their first public outing of the year at the Ramside Hotel as part of the Durham Shopping Extrava­ganza.

The Autumn Con­cert on Thursday18 October was very well attended and featured a m ix­ture of solo and e n - 1 semble items. It was particularly pleasing to hear first time perform ­ances from two new Music Scholars, Sinead M cKenna (oboe) and Luke Hall (piano). Although the House Music Com petition on Friday 5 O ctober re­verted this year to the more modest venue o f the School’s chapel, the standard from all five Houses was as high as ever, with Pim lico narrowly beating Poole in a nail-biting con­test.

The School hosted a ‘Big Band Bo­nanza’ on Thursday I Novem ber, at­tended by 60 pupils from 5 different Primary Schools and Prep Schools in the region. The day was run by Durham School’s music staff, with the focus on improving musical ability and learning to enjoy m usic-

making. The opportunity gave many o f the girls and boys their first op­portunity to play as part of a band and in front o f an audience. They re­hearsed in two groups during the m orning, concentrating on learning a num ber o f pieces, com ing together for the first time after lunch to re­hearse as a full big band, before per­form ing a short concert to an audience o f proud teachers and par­ents.

The term finished with two trad i­tional musical events. The C hrist­mas Concert provided an appreciative audience with a feast of music to suit all tastes. There were solo perform ances from A lexander G rant. David Q uinn, Sinead M cK enna, Savannah H olm es, James Pinner, Natalie Carroll, Phillip Tait and G raham Thorpe, with a duet by W illiam Dooley and Harriet Brooks. There was also a huge range o f en­sem bles on show, the fam iliar and much appreciated O rchestra, Big Band and Chapel Choir being joined by a trom bone trio , a flute ensem ble, a guitar group, a saxophone quartet and the jun io r strings. The annual Carol Service in a packed Durham Cathedral ended the year in suitably festive style.

EASTER TERM

In January pupils in Year 10 study­ing M usic attended a GCSE music conference in London attended by 800 other pupils. The night before

they attended a concert in the Royal Festival Hall by the Royal Philhar­monic O rchestra and after the con­ference they attended debates in the House of Com m ons and the House o f Lords.

After the huge popularity o f last y ear’s event, our second Jazz night (on the 13th February) was held in Big School, having been atm ospher­ically turned into a ‘jazz cafe ' for the evening. 180 guests enjoyed an outstanding evening o f music from the Big Band and other ensem bles and soloists. Just after half-term our leading musical lights shone forth in the annual M usic Scholars' concert. A different evening altogether from the Jazz N ight, the concert was no less entertaining, the standard of m usic-m aking on display once again reaching im pressive heights. The many rehearsals for and the four ex­citing perform ances of Godspell dom inated the second half o f term. The show was perform ed by a small but am azingly talented cast of pupils: Flora Bell, Jessica Graham- slaw, Natalie Carroll. Becky Heslop. G regg Cathrae, Henry Pem berton, H enry Cockburn, David Quinn, C hristina Cuthbertston, Alex Scott, Max Edge, Robert Sim s, Hannah G raham and Luke W estgate. They were brilliantly supported by m usi­cians including Harriet Brooks and Lewis West and a backstage crew including Dan Ciam polillo, Jack De­verson and Jonathan Sim pson and ably and devotedly led by Mr Dan Singleton. Directed by M r Kern, the show contained the fam iliar songs and an underlying strong message that is very relevant to our time. However, this was a particularly en­ergetic and colourful production in which the high standard o f the School’s music and dram a cam e to­gether to produce a brilliant specta­cle. O ur thanks go once again to Dr Stephen Cronin whose help with the technical side o f the production was invaluable.

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m

USIC NOTES

SUM M ER TERM

On Tuesday 29th April pupils at The Chorister School in Durham were treated to a workshop and concert given by the Big Band. The Chorister School’s sports hall was the scene for the lively and entertaining session which all the girls and boys present seemed to enjoy. Choristers shares with Durham School a love of music and an ambition to involve as many of our pupils in as much m usic-m ak­ing as possible. There was certainly no shortage of young volunteers to step forward and try their hand at conducting the band!

The second half of term witnessed two large-scale musical events, the 14th ‘Music for a Sum m er's Evening’, where over £1000 was raised for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and the annual Chadeyron Music Com petition, which now runs over two very full days and was ably adju­dicated by Will Todd (OD). Both oc­casions saw the school’s musicians performing at their glittering best and proved to be an exhilarating way to end the year.

The music tour to Spain in July you can read about in an adjacent article, but I very much doubt that other schools’ musicians would prove so adept at seemingly incongruous activ­ities such as surf-boarding and m usi­cal performance (not necessarily -

but sometimes - at the same time!) Suffice to say that fun was had by all, as well as form ing experiences and precious memories for the future.

In addition to the musical activities organised by the music department, it’s pleasing, too, to hear of individual musical successes outside o f school. Harriet Brooks (Year 10) was invited by the European Piano Teachers A s­sociation to play at an International Music Festival held in Septem ber to celebrate the centenary of the Norwe­gian com poser G rieg’s death. Repre­senting the English contingent along with 2 girls from Chetham ’s Music School in M anchester, she played with youngsters from Bergen's own Music Academy and perform ed in a

concert at G rieg’s m useum overlook­ing Grieg's writing chalet. Harrietwas given a private tour of the com ­poser’s house and was allowed to per­form one of her pieces on Grieg's own piano. Harriet also came first in the U 14’s Piano section at the Tynedale Festival and was awarded the U 18’s ‘M ost Prom ising Pianist’ by the EPTA.

Phillip Tait (U5) swept the board at the Wansbeck Music Festival. The brass event, a collaboration between the Northumberland Brass Band As­sociation and the Wansbeck Music Festival, was held over the weekend o f the 26th and 27th April in Newbig- gin.Phillip was awarded 1st place in the Under 16 Solo class for the Northum­berland Brass Band Association Cup and in the Under 18 Solo class for the Oldgate Trophy, as well as being awarded the Chantry Cup for the highest points awarded in the com pe­tition. However, the highlight for Phillip came when he was awarded 1st place in the James Shepherd Spe­cial Performance Class (up to 21 years) and was awarded the top bur­sary of £200 to put toward music tu­ition or instruments. Phillip also won the solo instrument (brass) class for 16 years and under in the Ryton Music Festival. Natalie Carroll (L6) won the solo instrument (woodwind) open class in the same competition and came runner-up in the James Etherington music competition. Na­talie has also recently been offered a place with the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain.

Drummer Michael Cuthbertson and the other members o f his four-man band, AK-7, are through to the semi­finals of the “Music M eans Life” tal­ent competition, which aims to raise £1.9 m for a new teenage cancer unit at N ew castle’s RVI Hospital. Only twenty-four young bands and solo artists made it through to the finals from 3,000 entries. The judges in­cluded teenagers currently battling against cancer themselves. In addition to their success in “Music Means Life” , AK-7 have also won through to the semi-finals of the National Un­signed Bands competition and are the youngest band to have been selected. They have also secured a valuable sponsorship package from The Sage Gateshead, which will mean better equipm ent and the opportunity to record in the studio at The Sage.

Dunefm ian 2007-08

USIC NOTES

Congratulations also go to Year 7 pupil Mark Race who took 2nd place in the Grade 4 piano section of the national stage of the EPTA UK music competition held at Chetham 's School of Music in M anchester last May. Mark had previously competed in the regional EPTA UK (European Piano Teachers Association) com peti­tion held in Gateshead when he was up against 39 other musicians in the Grade 4 piano section.Oli Bell (Year 10) was voted Senior Guitarist of the Year by all the teach­ers at the South Durham Rock School (SDRS). Ex-Bow pupil Oli was one of three players nominated for the award and was presented with the

the SDRS which Oli attends every Wednesday evening.

David Quinn (L6) was awarded an Organ Scholarship to the Royal School of Church M usic’s Bath Sum ­m er School. Last summer, David was awarded a scholarship to The Royal College of Organists Sum mer School and studied choral directing with Adrian Lucas of W orcester Cathe­dral. At the time of writing, David has just been awarded an Organ Scholarship to St. Peter’s College, Oxford, starting in 2010. Many con­gratulations.

dent. He joined other winners (male and female) from the top 22 drama colleges in the country at the Annual Spotlight Awards. The 44 nominees performed at a special 2-day event taking in July, in front of an invited VIP audience, including acting and casting agents and a panel of industry experts. Adam , together with another form er pupil, Matthew Gent, recently perform ed at the London Barbican in a special Choral Festival. Matthew sang in the first half with the Crouchend Choir and Adam sang songs from West Side Story in the second half. M atthew is now singing the role o f M arius in the West End production o f ‘Les M iserables'.

w inner’s trophy at a special presenta­tion concert given in front of nearly 400 people at Spennym oor’s Town Hall on Saturday evening 24th May. The award was made on the basis of performances over the whole year at

It’s also very good to hear of success am ongst Old Dunelm ians. Adam Welsh (1999-2004) was selected from over 80 students at M ountview Drama College as their top male stu­

In addition to all o f the above, the school had a record num ber of indi­vidual music exam successes over the year. Mention must be made of Graham Thorpe (Year 9) who gained 141 and 139 marks in Grade 8 piano and trombone respectively. These are amongst the highest marks awarded in the country and it is a re­markable achievement. He hopes to achieve a hat trick when taking his Grade 8 organ early next year.

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USIC NOTES

The future o f music in the school looks especially bright and there is plenty to look forward to: a night per­forming to Sir Bobby Robson, Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Bobby Charlton, Des Lynam and Mick Hucknall (yes - really), a CD recording involving the entire school, a return to the Sage, Gateshead for another showcase of the school's talent and a large-scale concert in Durham Cathedral in early 2010 to name but a few.My thanks, as ever, go to our extraor­dinarily talented and patient band of visiting music teachers and, of course, to the pupils themselves, who devote their time and skills to music- making with ceaselessly amazing amounts of enthusiasm. Floreat Dunelmia!

The Jazz Night, held in Big School on Wednesday 13th February, was the second of its kind in Durham School. Around 176 tickets were sold in just over a week. The lights were dim med and the audience en­couraged to relax and enjoy the infor­mal ‘Jazz C lub’ atmosphere. The Big Band were the main feature, playing around 18 pieces and some new arrangements such as ‘Blowtorch, ‘Hot Toddy’ and ‘Blue Skies’ to name but a few. Also performing with the band were guest vocalists, Sophia Ward. David Quinn, Emily Reader and Becky Heslop. 14 other soloists made up the busy pro­gramme including Natalie Carroll singing with her very own French musicians to accom pany her! Mr Muttitt and Mr Duff perform ed Samba Triste, a piece written for two pianos and the audience were treated to a special ‘R ocky’ video as the band played the theme from the film. All performers did very well and the Big Band were in top form on what was a very enjoyable evening.

‘Dunelm ian 2007-08

I RAMA

GODSPELL

How do you write a review of a school production without lapsing into cliches? That this was a tour de force goes without saying. What you could also say is that a professional company would have been proud to have put this on....

It was the last in a list of truly outstanding performances directed by Neil Kern since 1998. After “Les Miserables “ what could be a fitting finale or a trump card ? The answer was “Godspell” at the end of the Easter term in 2008

It fizzled and crackled for four nights , mesmerising the audiences who had no idea that they would be so lavishly entertained. Essentially it is a non stop roller coaster ride through the bible in an extravaganza of colour, music and dance. The cast was small but highly talented and consisted of Flora Bell, Jessica Grahamslaw, Natalie Carroll, Becky Heslop, Gregg Cathrae, Henry Pemberton, Henry Cockburn, David Quinn, Christina Cuthbertson, Alex Scott, Max Edge, Robert Sims, Hannah Graham and Luke Westgate.They were brilliantly supported by musicians Harriet Brooks,Lewis West and a backstage crew, led by M Dan Singleton, of Dan Ciampolillo, Jack Deverson and Jonathan Simpson. Mr Stephen Cronin's help with the technical side was invaluable.

Apart from fronting as a lively chorus, most of the cast had a cameo section to him or herself and you really had to remind yourself that these were pupils and not professional performers. At the risk of sounding over effusive it has to be said that the continuity, quality and energy of the cast were genuinely astonishing. None of the cast would be annoyed if Henry Cockburn (Jesus) was singled out as the leading light (no pun intended ) of the show. Quite simply he was superb as the essential link man in the story. At the end though the accolades have to go to Neil Kern as the producer. In the dark, Spartan days of Lent this performance was a glorious, shining jewel.We absolutely loved it.

‘DuneCmian 2007-08

RAMA

2P 0/-0Sm ia n

rn.L

Junior House Drama

Yet again, this year's Junior House Dram a Com peti­tions were thoroughly enjoyed by all and high­lighted the tremendous talents of our younger pupils.

The rich diversity of content was illustrated by the R e­moves plays in which Pimlico presented Peter P an, Poole Lord o f the F lies, M acLeod B ugsy , Caffinites The Last Scot and School Caesar. Judges M r Kern and Mrs Parker voted Lord o f the Flies best play, directed by Myles Green and Robert Sims. Olivia White won the best actress Oscar while Michael W hite won the Oscar for best actor. Oscars for best supporting ac­tors were presented to Angus Richard­son and Matthew Calvert.

In the Shell com pe­tition Caffinites presented Bert, M acLeod Snow W hite, Pimlico Alice, School A Lesson with Einstein and Poole Sam E lla 's Bar and Grill. It was such a close affair between Poole and Caffinites that the only result open to the judges was a tie. Such was the quality of the script of Sam E lla 's that David Lyall was awarded a special Oscar and Ben C ronin 's sensitive interpretation o f the bullied hero received Oscar for best actor. Oscars were also awarded to Graham Thorpe for his comic portrayal of Grandma, Lucy Pedley for a skilled rendition of vari­ous characters in Snow White and Hong Jun Jang for a side-splitting cameo as the waiter.

‘Dunelmian 2007-08

Geography Fieldwork

‘DuneCmian 2007-08

Increasingly, global positioning sys­tems (GPS) are used in fieldwork to locate accurately fieldwork sites and later link them to a geographic infor­mation system (GIS). This enables pupils to search for and exam ine spa­tial patterns of data on maps, rather than just looking at graphs produced on Excel or by hand. Our pupils have their first chance to use GPS and GIS in Year 7.

Most pupils have undertaken fieldwork as part o f their geog­raphy this year. Year 7 visited Wark-

worth to look at the site of the settlement and its changing function over time. In the afternoon they car­ried out a survey o f vegetation along transects across a sand dune system. Year 8 went to Broom House Farm, an organic farm near Witton Gilbert, where they were shown round by the owner, Mrs Jane Gray. Year 10 had a day on Seaham beach studying land- forms and coastal management; they visited Corus iron and steel works in Redcar; and had a day in the Lake Distract walking up to Bowscale Tarn corrie and doing fieldwork in Keswick. Year 11 spent a morning in Durham collecting data for their GCSE coursework, and had a full-day revision conference in Newcastle. At this conference Reece Ingham won a prize for being the closest to the chief exam iner’s marks in his marking o f a GCSE an­swer. The Lower Sixth surveyed shopping change® in Durham for their AS coursework, and spent the last three weeks o f the summer term planning and collecting data for their A2 coursework. The Upper Sixth went to a conference in M anchester on hazards, and spent an afternoon looking at urban redevelopment along Newcas- tle-Gateshead quayside.

Trips / Events

Ancient History trip to Hadrian's WallAfter nine consecutive years o f comm anding his upper sixth cohorts on A2 revision expeditions to H adrian 's Wall, John Everatt has finally hung up his hobnails. Many sixth formers have benefited from his expert on­

site interpretation o f this outpost of the Roman Empire and this year, John’s last in this role, was no exception. After showing their appreciation, all agreed that future students would sorely miss his lively and humorous talks.

Walking in Wales12 pupils (Rory Adey, Lewis Fraser, M atthew H owarth, Carmen Jang, Kassy Liu, David M oore, Jam es Richm ond. Brad Seym our, M ichael Silcock, Jonathan Sim pson, Toby Simpson and Rob W eston) accom panied by M r Jones, Mr Kime, Mr Wallace and Ruth Henniker-M ajor (form er Head of School), spent much of the half-term week walking in the beautiful Welsh mountains. The group divided their time between Snowdonia (Tryfan and the Glyders) and the Brecon Beacons (Craig y Fan Ddu, Gwaun Cerrig Llwydion, Fan y Big, Cribyn, Pen y Fan, Corn Ddu, Y Gryn), enjoying a 5-hour visit to the ‘Taste for A dventure’ High Ropes course in Hereford on the way back. Everyone made it around the highest circuit some 15m from the ground. They also visited the w orld’s biggest bookshop in Hay-on-W ye. The next trip, in the sum m er half-term break, will perhaps be in the Pirin or Rila M ountains of Bulgaria.

Year of the RatIn February the School once again held a dinner to celebrate the start o f the Chinese New Year (the Year of the Rat). Everyone entered into the spirit of a highly enjoyable evening for which Billy Song was again an excellent M aster of Ceremonies.

'Dunelmian 2007-08

Trips / Events

2007-2008 Inter-House General Knowledge Competition.

Early in the sum m er term the House teams met to contest the Cup that Caffinites have held onto

for more than six years. The weight o f History pressed on Alex Grant as Captain o f his House, but in the event he was as quick as ever to the buzzer.

As usual, each team varied its membership between rounds, al­though never with more than two Sixth Formers. The mood in the room was good-humoured: no-one wanted to come last but neither was any team overly competitive.

In politics Senator John M cCain, David M iliband and Jack Straw proved to have zero public recogni­tion, but Boris Johnson and Senator Hillary Clinton were readily identi­fied. 'Celebrity' figures such as Madonna, Heather Mills and Leona Lewis seem to have even more im­pact on young minds!

The final scores were:Caffinites 36 points Poole 23School 20Pimlico 12MacLeod 11

Congratulations go to Alex Grant (Capt.), Alex Duell, Max Edge, Andrew Barratclough, Sam Harrison, James Grant, Richard Dennis and Cal Conroy.

dressed in luminous tutus. Emily Reader, Sophia Ward, Bea W illiams, Abi Wilson and Annalies Docx com ­pleted the 5-kilometre Race for Life 2008 (which took place at Herrington

and great food, raising over £2,100 for the School. Seven members o f staff and one parent acted out a who­dunnit farce in front of 144 guests. Congratulations to all involved: the cast consisting o f Mr Kime, Mrs Parker, Mr Jones, Mr Best, Mrs M c­Cann, M r Younger, Mrs Lyall and Dr Burns) and the director, Mrs Hayley Phillips.

Molecules and Murder Sixth form chemistry lecture 12th December 2007

On the frozen penultimate day of the last week o f term we were fortunate to be invited to Newcastle

University for a lecture about DEATH. Professor John Nicholson spoke for about an hour in the Alec Campbell lecture theatre about the chem istry o f the crypt.We found out how people are poi­soned in a variety o f ways including some chem istry o f Strychnine, Thal­lium, Arsenic, Cyanide and others. The talk provided details about death by cyanide cheap beer. Thallium poi­soning in cups o f tea by Graham Young aged 14 and then later at 23 (having been released!). The 1978 umbrella injection with Ricin o f the ‘spy’ Georgi Markov. Death caused by natural arsenic in Peach stones (or apple pips for that matter). Problems with cyanide in Victorian aftershave (no wonder there were so many bushy beards in those days). The study o f Arsole (C4H5As) which was found not to be arom atic, strange

The Friends Medieval Banquet

43 Ski trip to Claviere - ItalyA party consisting of 33 pupils and three members of staff spent the half- term week skiing at Claviere in Italy, flying from Newcastle to Turin. The weather and snow were both excellent and all declared it to be a wonderful way to spend half term.

Hong Kong Trip

when compared with Pyrrole (C 4 H 5 N )-w h ich is!I recommend googling all of the above for further enlightenement this Christmas.

Park near Houghton-le- Spring) in 28 minutes.

"Bumped Off" In Big SchoolOn Saturday I st March the Friends of Durham School organized a “M urder M ystery Evening” of great drama Many thanks to Mrs Dougall and Mr.

Gerrard for covering my lessons so I could take Henry Cockbum, Rayan Tall, Jack Hope, George Bryant, Shakir Salaam, Jonathan Pye, Stewart Kirkley and Lewis Cunningham- Robinson to the Discovery Museum then on to this brief taste of University.

A Colourful Splash for Cancer CharityIn May five Year 10 girls raised al­most £1,500 for Cancer Research UK by completing a sponsored run

DuneCmian 2007-0&

SPORT

Girls’ Games

The 07-08 season has been an outstanding year for g irls’ sport. At senior level it has been the most

successful year ever and many of the junior teams have also had some exceptional perform ances. Almost every girl in the school has competed at some time during the year and many o f the younger teams have shown great improvements. We are now running A and B teams at most age groups and the minor sports such as athletics and swimming have become much more prominent.The year began as ever with pre­season hockey training which was well attended by girls from year 7 to year 13. This set the teams up for a pleasing hockey season. A special mention should be made o f the 1st hockey who lost only one match and won the county cup competition. Their excellent win against Sedbergh completing the season. The U/14 won the county cup and the U/13 got to the North semi-final o f the national clubs competition; an outstanding result for a small group o f girls.In the netball season the 1st won all but one o f their matches and also won the area netball tournam ent and the seniors were unbeaten at rounders. E.J. Saxby qualified for the national schools x-country championships and

the senior swimming team competed well in London at the national schools. Outside school Sam Harrison rode in regular international dressage competitions across Europe and Emily Birkett swam backstroke in the north Eastern swimming cham pionships.Alongside all the major sports reported on below there is a large number of other activities both internal and externally.

The badminton team played against Barnard Castle and won convincingly and a newly formed cricket team coached by Mrs Connor played two matches.Inter house competitions thrived - excellent matches in the senior and inter hockey and years 7 & 8 netball were particular highlights. Macloed won the inters and junior hockey the inters and year 8 netball , all three x- country events and the swimming.

Pimlico won the seniors hockey and netball, year 7 netball and the swimming relays.

Many thanks to all the captains for their hard work and to the staff who have spent hours coaching a huge variety o f team s. Mr. Fishwick for hockey, M rs. Connor, M rs. Sweeting, M orna Nielsen, Mrs. Heppell for tennis, M r W illiamson and Mr Fordyce for swimming.

The annual sports dinner was a great success w ith Emma Steele an International row er presenting the follow ing prizes.

Sportswoman Hockey Award Thompson netball Award Hockey Improvement Sockett Tennis Cross-Country Swimming C om m itm ent Hockey Captain’s Trophy Netball Captain’s trophy Rowing Award L6 Achievement L6 com m itm ent Y l I Achievement Y l I C om m itm ent YIO achievement Y l0 C om m itm ent Y9 Achievement Y9 Com m itm ent Y8 Achievement Y8 Com m itm ent Y7 Achievement Y7 Com m itm ent

Juliet Slade Juliet Slade Rachel Bradley Ella DavisonKate W ille tt and Jenny Park E.J. Saxby E.J. Saxby Jenny EarlKim Connor and Sam HarrisonKate FinchAmy MatthewsKate FinchBecky StoreyKaty PaxtonMaxine Brewster/Zoe Smith Sophia WardMay H unter and Annelies Docx Lyndsay Connor Su ChoiLouise E lliott and Mary Maceneney Monique Dingley Emily B irkettRachel Langthorne and Jenny W hitfield

Kim Dougall

‘Dunefmian 2007-08

SPORT

1stX1 Hockey

RESULTSO.D. Won County CupBarnard Castle Lost 5 - 1 Won 3 - 0Polam Hall Won

O1 Durham High Won 3 - 0Dame Allens Won

01 Polam Hall Won 3 - 0Kings, Tynemouth Won 6 - 0 Barnard Castle D rew 0 - 0

Yarm Won 4 - 1Richmond Won 5 - 1Am pleforth Won 5 - 2 National CupSt Peter’s Won 4 - 2 Barnard Castle D rew 1 - 1Sedbergh Won 1 - 0Durham High Won 1 O Lost on sudden death penalty flicksSunderland Won

OI

The 2007 l st XI G irls’ Hockey side has been arguably the best performing sporting team to represent

the School this academic year. The group o f girls not only won 11 matches and lost just I , they won the County Cup Competition and narrowly lost the National Cup to Barnard Castle on penalty flicks after dominating the game.

As a team they worked really hard in training and achieved some wonderful results.After losing the first game to Barnard Castle when we were missing a few key players, the girls then did not lose a game in open play for the rest of the season.

The highlights were a 5 - 2 win against Ampleforth, a 3 - 2 win against St Peter’s, York and a brilliant 1 - 0 victory against Sedbergh.The team was captained by Juliet Slade who did a fabulous job both as a captain and as a player.

The rest of the squad, who also performed brilliantly and played a part during the season were Kim Connor, Charlotte Cam pbell, Katie Finch, Ella Davison, Chloe Deighton, Katy Paxton, Sam Harrison, Jessica Grahamslaw, Jennifer Earl, Gabrielle M inchella, Sam W ilkes, Robyn Hornby and Amy Gadd.

Hopefully all the girls that are leaving will continue to play hockey at whatever level they chose and enjoy the game as much as they have this season. For all the girls returning, the challenge is to perform as well next season.

A fabulous effort - well done!

2nd X1 Hockey

The second XI squad was a very large group of extrem ely enthusiastic girls who were always

pushing for a place on the team. M otivation was high during training sessions and the use o f skipping and SAQ brought light relief to the girls. We had a full fixture list in the autum n term and even fielded a 3rd team against St Peters and Ampleforth, a credit to the com m itm ent of the girls.1 opted for a policy o f including as

many girls as possible in the matches

which often meant sixteen or seventeen pupils would turn out whether home or away. This clearly demonstrated the enthusiasm and comm itm ent of all concerned.The season got off to a great start

with a 2-2 draw against Barnard castle followed by a 3-0 victory over the RGS 1st team and then a 3-3 draw against Kings Tynemouth.The goals were skilfully executed by Rachel Bradley, Zoe Smith and Annie Kellet. However credit must also go to the defensive skills of Maxine Brewster, EJ Saxby and Jess Hannah who were challenged with well fought losses against Fyling Hall, Sedbergh and St Peters. A fantastic

‘Dunelm ian 2007-08

SPORTResults

Durham v Barnard Castle Lost 1 - 3Durham v R G S Won 4 - 0Durham v Sedbergh Lost 0 - 2Durham v Fyling Hall Lost 1 - 3Durham v Ampleforth Won 2 - 1Durham v Kings’ Tynemouth Lost 0 - 3Durham v St Peter’s, York Won 2 - 1Durham v Durham High School Drew 2 - 2Durham v Loretto Lost 0 - 1

individual goal was scored by Verity Richardson in a 1-1 draw against Ampleforth. Thanks also go to Becky Heslop, Becky Storey and Jojo Kellet who all gave full effort in every match. A special mention goes to Fran Dennis who lacked confidence as a goal keeper but made significant progress resulting in some outstanding saves each time she played.The thirds team were led by Sophie Dugdale who gave 100% and motivated her team to an unexpectedI -1 draw against St Peters and a brave 4-1 defeat against Ampleforth. EJ Saxby did a fantastic job as 2nd team captain where she led her team from the front and reliably helped organize a large squad. Thanks and congratulations go to all the players and not forgetting the parents who bravely turned out in all weathers.

Mrs G Connor

U15X1 Hockey

Pre-season training went well although the fitness levels of some girls was not up to the

expected standard. All the pupils worked hard and quickly picked up where they had left off the year before. The side was ably captained by Sophia Ward whose own high level of performance was central to the unit and enabled the team to attack with confidence.As ever the first match o f the season was against Barnard Castle this is always a good match and this year was no exception. We attacked strongly but unfortunately left gaps in the centre which allowed them to break through on numerous occasions. The defence worked hard but we needed to go away and work on covering the spaces and marking tight close to the circle. The final score of I -3 does not reflect the level

o f effort by the whole team. Convincing wins 2-0 and 5-0 against RGS and Polam Hall respectively improved the g irls’ confidence and showed that the hard work in training to sort out the defence had worked. Flora Bell. Harriet Brookes

and Carmen Jang attacked with great speed and were beginning to take players on and set the ball up in front o f goal. This was followed by a narrow loss to Kings. Despite having all the possession we could not put the ball in the back o f the net.

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The long trip to Fyling Hall was well worth the effort -we won 5-3.Durham controlled the 1st half and were leading 4-0 Sophia Ward weaving her way round many players and Annelies Docx supported by Pippa Heron and Lyndsay Connor making strong runs into the circle. They brought on some o f their 1 st team players at half time which put us on the back foot but the defence of Beatrice W illiams, Nicky Rogers and May Hunter fought well to keep the final score at 5-3.Two close losses to Peters and Sedbergh were followed by an excellent final win against local rivals Durham High. Durham dominated the whole match with numerous chances to score. Jordan Hewitt at left mid.Abi Wilson at right mid and Cassy Lui at link worked hard to keep good through balls coming to the forwards. A great deflection goal by Emily Reader started the scoring. One silly mistake when the centre o f the pitch opened allowed The High school to score. This taught the team the importance of concentration throughout the match.Overall this has been a successful season the team beating many teams they lost to last year. The support play and passing amongst players has opened up the game and created a lot of space. Channelling and marking in defence is now a part o f all games and the strikers are varying their shots and deflections. The following girls played for Durham County: May Hunter, Flora Bell, Abi Wilson and Sophia Ward. Sophia was also involved with North of England Training. Well done to all the girls and good luck when you move into the senior teams.

Kim Dougall

U14X1 Hockey

e went to pre season knowing we had a hard first match -

Barney. After hard training in pre season and the week leading up to the m atch, it finally came. We played well and the effort was high, but we walked away with a 3-0 loss. We

considered this good, as last season we lost 7-0 to them.Next was RGS - we w eren’t sure what to expect so we carried on playing to our standards. At the final whistle it was 7-0 to us. We were delighted and it seemed our pre season training had paid off! Unfortunately, the wins d idn 't last much longer, as we lost against Sedbergh 6-0, Kings Tynemouth 5-1, Ampleforth 5-0, St. Peters 2-0 and Yarm 5-0. Needless to say, we d idn’t have the most successful year! However, our last league match o f the season was against Durham High - a team we have beaten regularly. We went confidently into the match and cam e out with a 3-0 win. We had started passing the ball more and running into space which, I think, created this win.Along with 7 U13 players, we

travelled to Silksworth working out where we thought we would come. We planned 3rd out of 5. thinking w e’d lose against Barney and Polam. With a M cDonalds promised if we came first, we went into our first match Barney, knowing we needed a win. We fought hard and played extremely well and got the win we deserved. Our other matches we won were against Carmel College; 2-0,

Emmanuel College; 3-0, and Durham High school; 3-0. We drew against Polam 0-0. Well done to all the team, it was a great end to the season.Many thanks also, to the U13s who played.Due to numbers, the U 14‘b ' team only had one match, but drew with Barnard Castle 2-2.Well done to all the team , and many thanks to our coaches and the parents who came and supported.

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U13AX1 Hockey

An enthusiastic, athletic group of girls attended pre-season. One o f the main problems with this age

group for me was going to be whom to select for 7 a side hockey. This was good as all the pupils had to fight for a place.

was happy to come off her line and Laura Edwards was improving rapidly and fighting for a place on the team while captain Louise Elliott controlled the game and made many runs forward using her exceptional stickwork.Zoe Jackson joined the squad for this tournament.

As a team the girls were beginning to gel-passing and supporting each other

Barnard Castle was their first match which was lost very narrowly so a shuffle round of positions and some work on holding their positions on the pitch was necessary as large gaps were appearing mid pitch.This worked as a draw against St. M artins 0-0 proved the defence o f Anna M cKernan and Louise Elliott was strong. The Choristers were our best win of the season 10-0 allowing the speed o f Monique Dingley and Carri Ledden and Mary McAneney to attack the spaces in front o f goal. Rhianna Connor and Olivia White improved considerably in mid field as the year progressed,they began to support the forwards and make runs back to defend .Excel lent wins against Durham High 10-0 and RGS 5-4 prepared them well and gave them confidence coming towards the national clubs mini hockey competition.Rosie Barron had become more confident in goal and

(Dunefmian 2007-08 1

to eventually win the whole tournam ent and qualify for the national semi finals North at Manchester. They played extremely well but only won one game . This was a great experience and showed the girls the level of performance they are striving to reach.The following Girls played for the county-Louise Elliott. Mary McAneney, Rosie Barron, Monique Dingley, Carri Ledden, Laura Edwards, Rhianna Connor.

U13B X1 Hockey

Zoe Jackson captained a very competitive B team who had 3 matches and won 3 matches. All the

girls tried extremely hard and quickly improved their skills in attack and defence and their understanding about positions. They beat RGS 3-2 Hannah Phillips and Zoe making some excellent runs. Their 2nd match against the High school was won

so allowing the ball to do the work . The forwards were also starting to get to the furthest post allowing deflections to happen.The first round o f the national cup was at Durham. The team won all their matches including Morpeth Hockey club 4 - 1,Durham High 4-0,Carmel 6-0. This meant they had qualified for the Borders’ regional com petition. A poor start with a loss to Nelson Hockey club gave the girls a wake up call. Their defence had been poor and their speed around the pitch (normally our strength) was slow. They pulled themselves together and won the rest o f their matches showing great determination

convincingly7-0. Bethany Dodds showed her mobility bringing the ball up the pitch . Goalkeeper Lauren Brennan had very little to do in this match or the next which was an 8-0 win over Polam Hall.

Kim Dougall

SPORT

1st Netball

The senior netball teams use the Autumn term to train and practice ready for the main season in

the spring. During this period we took part in the first round o f the area hockey tournam ent .Captain Rachel Bradley led the team enthusiastically into this first tournament. There was a 1st hockey match on the same day so the team was a little depleted but Zoe

Smith stepped up from the seconds into defence. Despite the worries we managed to win all the matches with relative ease. Particularly pleasing was beating Durham High School 7-2 and Durham Johnson 7-4. Excellent shooting fron Ella Davison and good control of mid court by E.J. Saxby were a vital factor.The spring term and the start o f the season .Our first match against Ampleforth was a narrow loss last year but the team turned things round this year and won 52-29 in an extremely high scoring match. Rachel Bradley’s speed in attack and accurate shooting skills were prominent.W ins against Yarm, RGS and Sunderland High boosted the girls’ confidence and when the team worked together and tim ed their

movements well it was great to watch as the passes flowed. Barnard Castle was probably the hardest game of the season. They had also beaten us last year and it was revenge time. The game was fast and furious with a lot o f determined play by both sides.In the mid-field Kate Finch and Charlotte Campbell fought hard to stop them getting into the attacking circle. Juliet Slade marked tightly and Sarah Antonopoulos intercepted a number of important ‘Barny’

passes.The final score was 22-17 an excellent result o f a hard fought game .They then went on to beat Durham High 26-20 and Polam Hall 34-24 both matches saw all seven

girls using the full court and switching the ball effectively when space was short. To beat these large Girls schools is an excellent feat.The second part o f the area tournam ent was as successful as the first. The team won all five matches all by greater margins than in the first leg. Overall they scored 55 goals and conceded only 9 showing the accuracy of the shooters and the tight defensive skills. This meant they won the tournam net overall by a wide margin.The final game was against a strong Sedbergh team. We were leading after the first quarter but biased refereeing and some exceptional play by Sedbergh meant they crept past us at the final whistle. The whole team played with comm itm ent even if at times they were stopped from playing their own game by factors outside their control.

Kim Dougall

2nd Netball

The 2nd team also had a very successful season winning the majority o f their matches. Jenny earl was an excellent captain whose own shooting skills and close play near the circle were a great bonus. This team

DuneCmian 2007-08

SPORTalso took part in the area tournament winning 3 and losing two of their matches in the first round. They beat Durham High A team Johnson and Framwellgate but came third overall behind our A team and Durham 6th form.This was particularly pleasing as this team was also depleted due to hockey. Annastasia Kellett showed enormous ability when shooting scoring a number of very challenging nets.Into the season and the first part of the season was very successful with wins over Ampleforth 20-13,Yarm 13-12 and Barnard Castle 14-8 proved that we had strength in depth on the netball court. Zoe Sm ith’s height and Becky Storey’s mobility were great asets while Kim Connor worked hard in attack to feed clean ball to the shooters. RGS and Sunderland high were the next two wins. Katy Paxton played well against Sunderland controlling the game from the centre. Durham High and Sedbergh were their only losses. A very depleted team played Durham High and we struggled to score but the girls never gave up and showed fighting spirit until the end.Their final win came against Polam Hall 19-8 the team was moving in the correct areas more rapidly and despite problems with a slippy surface used the full court effectively. Robyn Hornby,Caroline Cleary.Chloe Deighton and Gabby M inchella all played for this successful netball team.

Kim Dougall

3rd Netball

The 3rd team played 2 matches. They beat Ampleforth 14-10 in an enjoyable match. The mid court

including Sophie Dugdale, Maxine Brewster and Becky Heslop gave the shooters some well positioned

shots.Johanna Kellett and captain Caroline Cleary shot well. The second match was very tight -they narrowly lost 18-19 and were winning until the final minute.

Kim Dougall

U15A Netball

This season has been a mixed one, with some very close matches. The girls began the season with a

very close game against Ampleforth. This game left us holding our breath as the ball was passed up the court with seconds to go. Unfortunately, we lost by one goal 2 2 - 2 3 a fantastic gam e! We then played Yarm, losing to them 24 - 11.

The team then played a good game against RGS but lost 1 6 -2 7 . This made the team determined to win the next match which was Durham High School.

'Dunelmian 2007-08

SPORTWith May Hunter GK Nikki Rogers GD and Jordan Hewitt and Beatrice Williams sharing W D we had a good defensive side. Sophia Ward playing C linked up our defence with the attackers who were Abbie W ilson in WA Annelies Docx GA and Flora Bell GS. Our team was really strong. We had a brilliant game beating Durham High School 1 5 - 10. Well done! This got the girls on a high and our next match against Barnard Castle was another great win 24 - 13. Each girl gave 100% and this was all we asked for. Our gam e against Polam Hall was another nail biting experience and we only lost by one goal 1 9 - 1 8 . It could have gone either way.

The last game was a hard one, losing to Sedbergh 1 5 - 3 0 but on the whole it was a great season.

Unfortunately our B Team only got the odd game but played very well against Polam Hall, losing by one goal 9 - 8 . Those who played well were Emily Reader, Lauren M ason, Carmen Jang, Kassy Liu, Skye Wong, Harriet Brooks and Beatrice W illiams. Their effort was outstanding.

Well done to all of the U 15 girls who are a credit to our school.

moments of skill and scored some brilliant goals from the edge of the circle. She was supported well by Su Choi, who tried to the best of her ability to help feed the ball into the goal third from centre court. Both shooters now need to aspire for more consistent play. Ironically, some of the best play was in the final match of the season, against Sedbergh when the players seemed to come together as a team. The defensive play of Kate Emmerton and Jade Chan demonstrated a great deal of determination and an improvement in technique in the circle. There were a number of girls competing for places between the A and B teams, and they all experimented with playing in a different range of positions. The U14 B team often combined forced with the U15b’s and they played four m atches, one o f which was a 7-7 draw against RGS, and the remaining3 were defeats. However, the match against Barnard Castle was well contested and ended in a 7-8 loss.The girls need to see the positives that came out o f the season and they should continue to work hard in order to develop further as a team

Mrs G.Connor

coaxing and cajoling her less confident players not to give up. She was brilliantly supported in centre court by Pippa Heron, and between them, they tried hard to cover large areas o f the court to inspire confidence within the team. Steph Harland showed some fleeting

Mrs S Sweeting

U14A&B Netball

The U 14 teams struggled to meet the standard o f play against other schools where players could be

selected from much greater numbers, Unfortunately they did not win any of their matches, although the margin of loss decreased as the season progressed. Captain Lyndsay Connor, gallantly led her team from the front

I2 3 §

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U13A&B Netball

The U13 squad were all fighting hard to in pursuit of a place on the A team with a very fine line

between the standard of some o f the players it made exciting competition for places. Inevitably there was some movement between the teams and no player was guaranteed her position. The A team was led by Mary McAneney and the Bs by Rhianna Connor, who both proved to be good motivators for the girls.Despite being an athletic year group

the girls often failed to reach their potential in matches due to silly mistakes in the basics of footwork and passing. The defence was lucky to benefit from the height of Rosie Barron, Olivia W hite and Anna McKernan who all showed more determination and fight as the season progressed. In the centre court we had the speed of M onique Dingley, Carri Ledden and Louise Elliot. W hilst in attack Laura Edwards and Mary M cAneney became increasingly confident as they began to find the target more frequently particularly in the match against RGS where they won 14-2. The seasons results were:

Team Played Drawn Lost WonYarm 7-10RGS 1-15Choristers 7-6Durham High 4-7Johnson 3-5St Leonards 0-5Barnard castle 8-8Sunderland High 14-2

The U13B team only played 2 matches winning one and losing one in a close match, although some of the players did experience playing for the A team. The results were as follows:Played Draw Lost WonYarm 6-7RGS 9-3

Mrs G Connor

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U12A&B Netball

Most of this year started playing netball properly when they joined the school in September.

Within a year they have become good players who are beginning to move with a little more balance and comm itm ent round the court. They played 5 games and two tournam ents in all their best result was beating a very tall Choristers team 5-7. Emily

Birkett and Rachel Langthorne gave us height in the shooting circle and the accuracy o f their shots was much improved by the end of the year. The match against Barnard Castle was on a very wet and cold day but the team pulled together and played well, particularly in mid court with Jenny W hitfield and Poppy Hannah. RGS was a very close match only losing by two goals thanks to Felicity Baird 's strong defence and Libby Paxton’s strong passing in mid court.

SPORTThe tournam ents at Durham High and Barnard castle were thoroughly enjoyed by the team and they quickly learnt that moving quickly into space enabled them time to receive and pass again.

U/12 B Netball

All the girls in year 7 played a match for the A or B teams and they were joined by some year 9 girls when numbers were short. The b team played two games and a tournam ent.Their game against Yarm was hard fought Robyn Place and Emily Phillips linking well with Anna Shuttleworth creating space in mid court .The match against RGS was more one sided but Rachel W hitburn and Franchesca Heartfield worked very hard to mark players out o f the game. Helen Cuthbertson and Annabel Knowles began to play with a lot more commitment towards the end o f term.

Well done to all the girls in both teams who worked hard and improved considerably last year.

QIUIKHI

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1st Rounders

Unfortunately due to bad weather 2 matches were cancelled so the seniors only played 2 matches before

the exam season began. They trained hard in the first period working on batting skills and speed of fielding. The first match was away to Sedbergh. They took control from the beginning and were well up before the end of the first innings and kept applying pressure to win 21-12. Excellent fielding skills to second by Kate Finch and Charlotte Campbell and Annastasia Kellett were supported by accurate bowling by Juliet Slade . Kim Connor,and batted well and Chloe Deighton blocked a lot of hits at third bay. Their second game was against Durham High which was a convincing win 37-6. Caroline Cleary had to field a number of balls quickly to Robyn Hornby at 2nd and Sam Harrison at 4th.The team were alert and no-one dropped a catch . Robyn batted extremely well as did Jess Grahamslaw. It was a short but successful and enjoyable season.

Kim Dougall

U15 Rounders

This season was a short one with a lot of our games being rained off. We only got to play three matches.

Unfortunately, we lost all of our matches but the girls still gave 100% and never gave up. The team consisted of Annelies Docx (Captain) Nikki Rogers, Beatrice Williams, Flora Bell, Abbie W ilson, Emily Reader, Sophia Ward, Jordan Hewitt, Chloe Fawell and May Hunter. These girls formed our rounders squad and if we had played more games we would have got more satisfying results.

Losing to Sedbergh 14 - 7!^ we put up a good fight and we also played

Durham High School, losing 1 6 -8 !^ and St P eter's, losing 19 - 14'A.

Mrs S Sweeting

U14 Rounders

Due to the poor weather conditions at the beginning of the season, matches had to be

cancelled, and this meant only three games were played. Despite some intense work on basic skills in training the girls buckled under pressure in matches. Unfortunately all three matches played were lost, although there were some outstanding individual perform ances by Lyndsay Connor, who scored most

of the rounders.Our first match against Sedbergh got off to an unfortunate start, when Lucy Pedley sustained a head injury from a flying bat, and another player suffered travel sickness. Despite some strong batting and skilful fielding we lost the match 141/2-7. Switching Rosie W ilkinson and Pippa H eron’s positions assisted fielding and Rosie made some valuable catches at 2nd base which enabled some crucial stum pings against Durham High School where we lost 14-9.The final m atch o f the season brought m uch im provem ent in the quality o f the fielding from all players, including Su Choi, Jade Chan and H annah Neil who all gave confident perform ances.

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Lyndsay Connor played well in the field sending in some long throws from a hard hitting team and batted a fantastic individual total o f 121/2 rounders. The final result came to 141/2-16. This was the best result of the season.In the last match against Sedbergh the team began to realise its full potential and they played brilliantly together. They finally began to understand the importance o f supporting each other in the field and managed to limit the oppositions scoring opportunities.The girls now need to concentrate on their batting skills if they are to begin to win matches. Well tried girls.

G. Connor

U13 Rounders

The U13 team began the season with high hopes of success, unfortunately playing only 3 matches

due to the poor weather. Captained by a strong motivator Olivia W hite they won 2 and lost 1. They started with a victory o f 8-4 over Polam Hall. Laura Edwards proved to be a particularly effective deep fielder using her accurate throwing to the team 's advantage.Against Ampleforth the girls were narrowly defeated by 12-10. Mary McAneney was a consistent bowler and the rest of the team becam e more efficient by backing up in the field. A

good link was established between Bethany Dodds and Anna M cKernan at backstop and 1st base leading to several good stum pings.The final game of the season was against The Chorister school again a success of W /z-5. The batting o f Catriona Hawkes and Rihanna Connor showed an improvement increasing the score margin with whole rounders. Louise Elliot and Carri Leddon worked well as 3rd and 4th base fielders with some reliable catching.The girls' target for the

coming season has to be on improving the consistency of their play particularly the batting. Well tried!

Mrs G Connor

U12 Rounders

This season did not see a great deal o f games being played as a good few were cancelled due to rain. The

squad played Ampleforth, losing 15 - 6. The girls turned the tables after that and gave their all, beating Durham High School 15 - 14'/> in a very com petitive game. Well done! Polam Hall was a hard game, losing 2 3 - 5 and the same with Barnard Castle, another hard game losing 21 - 5. We unfortunately lost the last gam e, losing to Choristers 20 'A - 9 Zi.

A good try but better luck next year.

The squad consisted of Rachel Langthorne, Poppy Hannah, Jennifer W hitfield, Emily Birkett, Anna Shuttleworth, Emily Phillips, Libby Paxton, Annabel Knowles, Robyn Place, Francesca Heartfield. Helen Cuthbertson, Felicity Baird and Olivia Graham. All these girls took part at one time or another in our rounders matches, so well done to you all.

Mrs S Sweeting

1st Tennisgain due to bad weather and exams this was a short season.

The team progressed and played well but struggled to find success. The first couple of Jenny Park and Kate Willett had strong shots and placed

the ball accurately but lacked a little consistency. The second pair of Sam Wilkes and Caroline Curry worked well as a team communicating effectively but needed a little more speed across the court. Ella Davison and Jenny Earl as third couple maintained long rallies keeping the ball coming back over the net but struggled with the strength o f shots from the opposition. The three schools they played were all extremely strong and they lost all three but many of the games were closely fought long games. Sophia Ward stepped into play with Jenny against St. Peters and played with determination putting the opposition on the back foot on a number of occasions.

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U15 Tennis

The 1 st four of Sophia Ward, Flora Bell. Harriet Ward and Emily Allen were supported by Lyndsay

Connor, Jordan Hewitt and Rosie W ilkinson. Sophia’s strong groundstrokes helped her to some singles wins and Harriet Ward has improved considerably being much

more consistent with her shots.Emily has struggled with injury but plays well putting depth onto her shots. Flora maintains long rallies and as the strength o f her hits improved she began to dominate the games. The team lost to a strong Sedbergh team then very narrowly to Barnard Castle in the County league. Against the High school Rosie W ilkinson won her singles -she played with real concentration and commitment. In their final match v Johnson there were a number of close matches. The strength and accuracy of shots had improved since the beginning of term and Sophia and Flora played 1 st couple and were supported by Harriet ward and Pippa Heron as second couple.

U13 Tennis

Laura Edwards as captain o f the U/13 team played well leading by example. She was partnered by

Monique Dingley and Rhianna connor. Louise Elliott, Savannah Holmes,Robyn Place and Jenny Whitfield also played for the U/13. They lost their 1st two matches to Durham Johnson very narrowly then

tournam ent took place during the last two weeks o f the summ er term. All the girls in years 7 and 8 took part and a high standard was reached. Laura Edwards was a worth winner but was pushed hard by Monique Dingley in the final. Libby Paxton and Mary M cAneney were the other semi finalists.

Kim Dougall

good form by winning their events. Despite some good swims our U15 team cam e second best to a very strong Ashville squad. Next was an away trip to Barnard Castle. Sadly the boys lost in both the U 15 and senior events. Our last fixture was an away trip to Sedbergh; the senior boys bounced back from their previous defeat to comprehensively beat the Sedbergh team. The U15 also finished their season with a win. Overall record two wins and tw'o losses.The g irls’ teams captained by E-.l Saxby started their season with the U15 girls beating Sedbergh away. Next was an away trip to Ashville and a first outing for the senior team. Senior girls dominated their events winning comfortably; the U15s came a close second in their events. Last was a home tie against the High School. This time the U 15 won easily with the senior girls losing out narrowly. The girls overall record was two wins and one loss.

Swimmingto a strong Durham High team. Their third match against St. M artin’s was an excellent victory by 19 games to 12. Laura and Rhianna won all of their games, Louise and Savannah narrowly lost their first match by one game. Their league game against Johnson showed the improvement they had made through the term Laura Edwards,Rhianna Connor,Monique Dingley and Robyn Place all maintained a number of good competitive rallies throughout the match. Well done to all those girl who worked hard and showed a great deal of improvement throughout the year.The school tennis

Our boy’s inter-school season kicked off, under Captain Andrew Barratclough, with a home

win against Ampleforth. Our next event was a home tie against Ashville boys; our senior team continued their

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Our season finished with our annual participation in the invitational Bath Cup and Otter Medley on the 14th March. The girl’s team of Emily Birkett (Yr7), Jenny Earl (Y rl3 ), Rachel Bradley (Y rl3 ) and E-J Saxby (Y rl3 ) competed first in the 4 x 50m Freestyle relay. They clocked a time o f 2:10.80, finishing 21st out of 37 teams. Next came the 4 x 50m Medley relay event which they swam in a time o f 2:27.58, finishing 16th out o f 37 entrants Both placings are again higher than in any of the previous years o f competing. The

j boys team consisting of Tom Edwards (Y rl2 ), M atthew Hand (Y rl2 ), Stuart Kirkley (Y rl2 ) and Andrew Barratclough (Captain,Y rl3 ) competed first in the 4 x 100m Freestyle relay and came 44th out of 56 entrants with a time of 4:21.85.

| They then swam a time of 2:09.44 to finish 42nd out of 56 teams in the 4 x

| 50m Medley relay.

This year's house swimming competition was battled out in May over 4 days. In the senior boys’ events. The Caffinites took both the relay and overall titles. The Caffinites also took the junior overall title with Poole taking the relay title. One record fell which was the 4 by 1 length individual medley by Matthew Calvert in the U 14 category. In the girls’ events, M acleod took the relay and overall title in their junior event as well as the overall senior title. Pimlico fought hard managing to take the senior relay title. Three records fell in the g irls’ events; first was Emily Birkett taking the U14 4 by 1 length individual medley (her time was fast enough to also break the U 16 and U 18 records), Rosie Barron taking the U 14 and U 16 2 lengths backcrawl records and E-J Saxby breaking the U18 2 lengths butterfly record.

Coach: M r C Fordyce Assistant Coach: Miss R Taylor Boy’s Captain: Andrew Barratclough G irl’s Captain: E-J Saxby

Girls’ Cricket

A group of 12 girls trained regularly in activities time during the sum m er term. An

optional activity attracted some of our best sportswomen from years 8-11. With welcome support from Mike Hirsch,Aaron and Travis, the girls began to come to terms with the intricacies and techniques of bowling, batting and fielding. Technically the girls still have a long way to go, but they have made a vast improvement over the weeks. We have played three matches on the playground, and the first involved a combined team of Durham Schools' and W illington Cricket Club girls teams. This coached game gave all of the players an insight into the rules and positional play of cricket. The second match was against the boys U 13c’s and it was umpired by Mike Hirsch. Despite losing the gam e, the girls took it all in their stride and used it to boost their confidence and knowledge of the game. The final match was a pairs senior inter house com petition, MacLeod vs. Pimlico. There was

some accurate bowling from Jess Grahamslaw and Lyndsay Connor. Chloe Deighton and Sam Wilkes also proved to be competent wicket

keepers and Lyndsay Connor was also the highest scorer with 12 runs from the maximum of 2 overs. The final result was 138-135 to MacLeod. The minimal difference of 3 runs showed that both houses were capable of winning, and both houses were enthusiastic about this new aspect of sport.

G.Connor

The boys and girls of the mixed cricket teams

— — — — — — — ‘Dunelm ian 2007-08

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“Dwletelmian 2007-08 1

Water Polo

The senior team had a good season, winning seven o f their ten games. They were runners-up

in the English Schools’ northern region tournament. Half-colours were awarded to Andrew Barratclough, Sam Ciampolillo, Lewis Cunningham-Robinson, Thomas Edwards, Sam Harrison, Matthew Hand, Stewart Kirkley and Jonny Lowden. Tom Anderson, Peter Baird, Gavin Dingley, Jonathan Pye and George Bryant also played for the team. The Under 17s had just one match, which they won. The Under 16s lost all their games, mainly due to lack o f experience, but some players in the team show promise for the future if they continue to play. Tom Newbould was awarded the Connor Cup, which is presented each year to the best under 16 player.

JCR

Fixtures in 200820th Jan. U.18 Durham City Water Polo Club Lost 1 9 - 725th Jan. U.18 English Schools’ tournament in Bradford 2nd out of 55th Feb. U.18 Sedgefield Water Polo Club Lost 18 -1 328th Feb. U.16 SedgefieldWater Polo Club Lost 1 6 - 829th Feb. U.18 Catterick Water Polo Club Won 19 - 113rd March U.16 St John’s School, Bishop Auckland Lost 14- 117th March U.16 English Schools’ tournament in Bradford 5th out of 510th March U.18 St John’s School, Bishop Auckland Won 1 4 - 419th March U.18 Newcastle RGS Won 1 6 - 725th April U.18 Catterick Water Polo Club Won 1 0 - 516th June U.17 Durham City Water Polo Club Won 12 - 1 1

U18: played 10, won 7, lost 3. U.17: played 1, won 1. U16: played 6, lost 6

Five inter-house tournaments were played:

Boys: Years 7-8 won by Poole.Years 9-10 shared between Poole and Caffinites.Years 11-13 shared between School and Poole.

Girls: MacLeod won both the Years 9-10 and 11-13 trophies.

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‘Dunefmian 2007-08

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Athletics

Athletics Club2008 Report

The 2008 athletics season began with the North of England HMC Track & Field Athletics

Championships at Monkton Stadium, Jarrow on Wednesday 7th May. On a bright and sunny day athletes were prepared and ready for the up and coming season. The day began slowly but the results were sure to follow. Firstly in the Junior girls Mary McAneney finished an agonising 4th in the 100m, although better things were to follow.

came 2nd with a team comprising of E.J. Saxby, Katy Paxton, Sam Harrison and Kim Connor. E.J. Saxby also cam e 3rd in her individual 800m event. A well done must go to all other athletes who finished a close 4th place. This experience will help them develop and improve to better things next year.

The athletics season began promisingly, although much more was to follow. A number of Durham School pupils produced some outstanding perform ances at the Durham Central Schools Area Athletic Cham pionships on Tuesday 20th May at the Riverside Athletics

congratulations must go to Tom Kill (10()m) for also winning his individual event and ‘Breaking’ the Cham pionship Record to set a new time o f 11.44sec. A thletes coming 2nd were Joe Maw (Shot Putt), Alex Sinkinson (High Jump), Cameron Davidson (Javelin), Tom Kill (Long Jump) and Bradley Pears (400m), with Annalise Docx (1500m) coming 3rd.

A num ber o f other excellent perform ances contributed to a very successful day for Durham School. Our Intermediate B oys’ team finished 2nd overall while the com bined boys’ and girls' results concluded with Durham School

In the Intermediate boys Tom Kill finished 1st in the Long Jump and 2nd in the 100m. An excellent performance for this athlete when considering he was competing against athletes who were a year older, while James Grant finished 3rd in the Javelin.

In the Senior boys Khalil Thompson won the 1500m in convincing fashion, Keiran Forsyth came a close 2nd in the Javelin and Greg Turner finished 3rd in the Pole Vault, while the girls 4x 100m relay

Stadium, Chester-le-Street. In the Juniors both Jess O 'C onnor (1500m) and M arcus Sinkinson (High Jump) won their events, with Louise Elliott (800m) and Olivia W hite (75m Hurdles) coming 2nd and Lewis Blamire (Javelin) 3rd.

In the Intermediates Alex Sinkinson (100m Hurdles), Sophia Ward (Long Jum p), Zoe Smith (High Jump) and the boys 4x100m relay team consisting of Henry Pem berton, Alex Sinkinson,Bradley Pears and Tom Kill finished 1st in their events. Special

finishing 3rd overall for the second year in concession, out of 13 other schools. A fantastic result and a very promising sign for the future of Durham School Athletics. All winning athletes were then selected to represent Durham Central Schools at the Durham County Athletic Cham pionships.

To conclude the athletic season was the Durham Central Schools Junior Track & Field Athletics Cham pionships again at the Riverside Athletics Stadium, Chester-le-Street.

‘DuneCmian 2007-08

SPORTThis event consisted of both the year7 and 8 age groups. Following the prior successes achieved by the Durham School athletes at the Central Schools Cham pionships the pupils were given the challenge to give of their best and maybe better that of their elders.

The year 7 group saw some good results from the boys. Alistair Lumsden (100m) won his event

the High Jump. This athlete looks to be one to watch in the future.Again the com bined g irls’ and boys' results ended with Durham School finishing in 3rd place out of 13 other schools.

Well done all on another excellent athletic season.

convincingly, while Luke Elliott (1500m), Jordan Anderson (High Jump), Christopher Field (Discus) and the boys 4x 100m relay team comprised o f Alistair Lumsden, Luke Elliott, Fraser Fountain and Harry Armstrong finished 3rd in their events.Both year 8 boy and girls produced some excellent performances with Olivia W hite (70m hurdles) and Mary M cAnenny (100m) coming 1st. Both the boys and girls yr8 4x100m team (Boys: Alex Lightburn, M ichael W hite, Michael Hylton and Tom Wilkinson) and (Girls: Olivia W hite, Louise Elliott, Mary M cAneney and Monique Dingley) came 2nd along with Louise Elliott (High Jump). Athletes coming 3rd were Michael Hylton (High Jum p), Alex Lightbum (200m) and Monique Dingley (200m).

Special Congratulations go to Tom Wilkinson for winning the 400m and setting a ‘new ’ Cham pionship record of 60sec and then also coming 3rd in

N um erous records were set throughout the day and I must congratulate these athletes on some excellent athletic perform ance. This just dem onstrates the standard of sporting excellence held at Durham School and all the staff and pupils must be

'Dunefmian 2007-08

DURHAM SCHOOLINTER-HOUSETRACK & FIELD ATHLETICCHAM PIONSHIPS 2008M aiden Castle Athletics StadiumFriday, 13th June 2008

The day began with the both the year 7 and 8 pupils travelling down to M aiden Castle at 1130am to

begin the day early while the rest of the school would arrive at lpm . W eather conditions were rather mixed with sporadic rain and sun but nothing was going to stop the pupils from perform ing to their best today and representing their houses.

congratulated on their sheer determ ination to excel and attain each and every pupils’ personal potential.In conclusion to the day, scores were toted up and House winners were determ ined. In the Under 12 Boys’ Category Caffinites House ran out comfortable winners with 132pts with MacLeod House winning in the girls with 133pts, while in the Under 13 Boys Poole House won with 126pts with MacLeod House again winning the g irls’ category with 157pts. Once again Poole House finished ahead with 151 pts in the Under 14 Boys with M acLeod House in the girls with 158pts. The Under 15 age group was won by Caffinites House for the boys with 153pts and again M acLeod House with 172pts for the girls. Finally the senior Under 17 category was won by Poole House for the boys with 142pts and Pimlico House for the girls with 189pts.

SPORTThe Final Overall standings for the Boys was in 3rd place School House with 524pts, Poole in 2nd with 619pts, however, clear and deserved winners for the day was Caffinites House with 690pts. Well done Caffinites House on a fantastic day and no small achievement realising the close competition throughout the day. The Final Overall standings for the Girls was not such a hard one to guess. M acLeod House proved just too strong and finished with 758pts with Pimlico House scoring 645pts.

Well done to everyone that competed today and for those who achieved the highest accolade of winning their event and achieving a new event record. The Championship has marked the conclusion o f the current season for the School's Athletic Club in what has been a great day of competition, sportsmanship and determination. Well done all!J.G. James

Cross Country

On a cold day in December, we attended the Cross Country Durham Central Schools Championships

at Hermitage School in Chester-Le- Street. A large contingent o f Durham school pupils ranging from year 7 to year 13 attended the event. The competition was well organised, and the races were demanding on a frosty morning. We had a num ber o f top 16 finishes who were automatically selected for the Inter County Cross Country Cham pionships. The notable performances were;BoysKhalil Thompson 1st Year 12Daniel C iam polillo 4th Year 13Charlie Baird 16th Year 9Kieran Atkinson 4th Year 7Jordan Grosent 13th Year 7

Hockey (boys)Boys’ hockey has been played competitively this year for the third year running. We have just fielded an U 15 side and a 1 st XI team .

Considering our inexperience as a hockey school, we compete very well and the game is gradually developing a real interest in the school for a lot o f boys. We are now looking forward to extending the game down to U13 and U 12 age groups so we can further develop our hockey.

The 1st XI was captained by Greg Turner who did a wonderful job. All the other boys really improved over the season and Tyler Temple, for exam ple, shows enormous potential for a relative novice at the game.

GirlsSam Harrison 3rd Year 12E-J Saxby 5th Year 13Kate Finch 9th Year 12J0J0 Kellet 13th Year 11Jess O Connor 4th Year 9Louise Elliot 5th Year 8Mary M cAneney 12th Year 8

In the Cross Country County Cham pionships which were held in January 2008 at M eadowfield we had the following success;Khalil Thom pson 2nd Year 12Daniel Ciam polillo 13th Year 13E-J Saxby 4th Year 13

The above pupils were automatically selected for Regional Inter County Cham pionships. EJ Saxby went on to represent Durham in the National Schools Cham pionships, despite not placing, it is a major achievement to reach that level.The Inter-House Cross Country Cham pionships were held on Tues 12th February 2008. Fortunately the conditions were ideal with it being a bright sunny day.

The under 15s, also mainly first timers at the game, competed in all fixtures and won against Ashville College. Teddy Tai played the game for the first time and showed a lot o f natural ability.

Well done to all boys who participated in hockey last season. With the game growing at the School and with us running tournaments like the Durham 7 a side played in M arch, hopefully Hockey for the boys will continue to develop.

DuneCmian 2007-08

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Rugby Report

The 2007/08 season has seen a mixture o f results, with disappointm ents, but also great

prospects on the horizon. Having faithfully battled throughout their time at Durham School the present leavers found their last year no different. Unfortunately as a 1st XV they have had a hard season. They did, however, show grit and determination to represent Durham School with a lot o f heart.At the other end of the School, the U13's have produced four sides this season and the U 14’s three. The season saw almost every boy in year 7, 8 and 9 represent Durham School in at least one match.The U 15’s are showing great promise, narrowly losing out in the 5th round of the Daily Mail cup to Stokesley School.We have had a number of County players throughout the school this season and they are as follows:

County U15: Henry Pemberton, George Robinson,Tom Kill,Joe Douthweight & Robbie Griffin (Northumberland)

County U16: Joe Maw, Alex Sinkinson, David Taylor, Lewis Fraser, Bradley Pears

Rugby 1 STXV - 2007-08

Opponents Dat<Tynedale Tournament 2.9.IBarnard Castle 8.9.IRGS, Newcastle 15.£Monkseton HS 19.£Kings, Tynemouth 22.£Sedbergh 29.£Emmanuel College 3.1CHymers College 6.1CEdinburgh Academy 10.1Dame Allans 13.1QEGS Hexham 17.1QEGS Hexham 3.11RGS, Newcastle 7.11Ampleforth 10.1Yarm 17.1Woodhouse Grove 24.1Pocklington 1.12* = Daily Mail Cup

Played Won Drawn

16 4 1

County U18: Stuart W oodhouse, George Bryant, Ian Philips, Jack Hope, Gavin Dingley, James Stansby (Northumberland)

Jamie Oyebade and Philip Blenkinsop also played for the North of England Independent Schools’ Barbarians’ side.

Result

0 - 4 7 Lost.07 1 5 - 3 9 Lost'.07 6 5 - 0 Won.07 6 - 6 Drew.07 0 - 7 1 Lost'.07 57 - 0 Won'.07 0 - 14 Lost0.07 2 2 - 2 6 Lost0.07 1 3 - 1 5 Lost0.07 1 7 - 0 Won.07 22 - 13 Won.07 7 - 5 5 Lost1.07 22 - 23 Lost1.07 7 - 27 Lost1.07 0 - 27 Lost:.07 5 - 7 Lost

Lost

11

1st XV

This was a difficult year for the l STXV, as the playing record and the statistics show. Factual data

does not lie so in that sense I ’m sure there are many o f you reading this article and thinking “what has gone w rong?” .

In many ways the answer is that not a great deal is different from what it has always been ; the players still train incredibly hard - there is no lack of intent on their part - but sometimes you are just not good enough on the field of play to back up your intentions off the field. Size was an issue this year, we lacked physicality in the collision and at the breakdown. As a result of this we struggled to win any sort of consistent front foot ball, which meant our mid-field runners were not coming on to the ball with the pace and momentum required to break an organised mid-field tackle-line.

‘Dunefmian 2007-08

SPORTAlso at times our basic core-skills let us down ; simple one-on-one tackles, a pass that encourages the support player to run on to the ball rather than going behind him e tc ... In summary on the circuit we play on you can be just below the level that you normally function at and if some of the opposition have a better team than normal, the gu lf in terms o f the score-line can appear greater than in many ways it actually is.

To say that we were a young side, or that it was a re-building year also do not make sense as for the players in the U6th it is their last year at school and having a successful 1STXV season means everything to them. There are certain areas that need to be addressed for next year, but those issues are not relevant to this article.

We lost four gam es, to Edinburgh, Dame Allans, Pocklington and Ampleforth by four points or less. These were all games we could have won if we had been more clinical in the execution o f the chances that we created and a num ber o f decisions had gone our way. W inning is a habit and you can quickly lose your collective self-belief if you are constantly on the back-foot and struggling to be successful on a weekly basis.

RGS, Barnard Castle and Sedbergh all had very good sides this year and we were well beaten in those games. The pace, power and precision with which those teams executed their team patterns is som ething we must learn from for next year.

We had a decent run in the Daily Mail Cup, admittedly against sides that we should easily beat, until we were well defeated on the Playground in our second game of the season against RGS.The side was well captained by Jamie Oyebade and he was backed up by a

num ber of hard working U6th students ; Phil Blenkinsop. Max Edge and Alex Grant. Unfortunately a number of key players hardly played at all due to injury ; Derek Chatt, Oli Holmes, Nick Shaw and Stephen Adamson. A large number o f the squad will return next year and whilst they must continue to develop both individually and collectively they will have definitely have benefited from their experiences this year. They include ; Toby Bain, Michael Turns, James Stansby, Harry Readhead, Jack Hope, Gavin Dingley, George Bryant, Bradley Pears, Lewis Fraser and Joe Maw.

SevensWe played in four tournam ents this year ; the Ampleforth Sevens, the North o f England Sevens, our own Bain Sevens - that has been revived after a num ber o f years - and the National Sevens at Rosslyn Park. The squad improved from tournam ent to tournam ent to eventually produce some very good perform ances at the National Sevens down in London.

Paul Gerrard I STXV Coach

2 nd X V

Rugby Dinner Speech

The Hawks this season started knowing last year 's team soared high by reaching the final of the Lynn

Mock memorial trophy , one of the most prestigious tournam enst in world rugby. However as our results have shown we were unable to find our wings this season. W inning is not what playing for the Hawks is all about; I may just be saying this because we only won 2 games, and out of the 6 games I played , we only won 1. This however may have been the problem because with my natural athletic abilities I could have brought so much more to the team.Following the regular slog of pre­season, which has helped to sculpt the body that stands before you, we started with our usual opener against Barnard Castle. Surprisingly Ryan M iller wasn't present as he had been selected for the first team. Although we lost this game we thought we had found a secret weapon in Benjamin Tombs, until we realised he couldn 't run more than 15 yards without being sick . It turned out to be his only game for the Hawks.During the week we headed back to the drawing board . Unfortunately, with the vast am ount of rugby knowledge Mr. Kime has, we were ble to come up with anything new.

‘Dunefmian 2007-08

SPORTunable to turn our fortunes around and lost to R G S. Even after this defeat morale was still high in the nest and we were eagerly anticipating the next challenge o f King’s

We added an overseas player to our ranks in the form of Kieran Forsyth ; he provided strength , stamina and a loose grasp o f the English language: all the vital attributes o f a Hawks' player. Obviously this aided our team as we went on to win by 60 points. During this game I also witnessed one o f the greatest performances ever in a Hawks' shirt as Richard Gregory scored 38 points.

During the week we were naturally on a high and were hoping to take this momentum into the game o f the season against Sedbergh. With this in mind we revam ped the coaching staff; due to my long lay off I was promoted to Assistant Coach. However, because I missed the most important team meeting, I was unaware of the great inspirational team talk from Senor Kime . As I heard it went a bit like this: Plan A - we don't have a plan A. Plan B - time waste and Plan C - whenever you get the ball kick it as far away from the pitch as possible. However it must be said 'fair play' to Sedbergh, who managed to score 87 points in this game. The match although a whitewash was the stage for Alex Willings' momentous performance; never have 1 witnessed such commitment in a Hawks' shirt.Following this defeat, we struggled to turn our fortunes around and after an uneventful week lost to Hymer's. In the words o f four legendary Irishmen this threatened to take the wind from beneath our wings. Thank you Westlife.After this disappointm ent. Yarm took a trip to the Nest (some still mistakenly call it the 16s pitch) and were met by a bolstered squad including the likes of Ryan Tall and a hungry , injury free Rostron-Maher. This was as good as it got for the rest of the season as it was our 2nd and last win. During this game Richard Gregory slotted a penalty from his own 22. This was truly a momentous occasion.

After this triumph we had the difficult task of playing away to Ampleforth. We had unfinished business against this team , as we had had 3 tries disallowed the year before, losing by 10 points. For this game we welcomed Kieran's South African counterpart Greg Turner. We were all just happy that now someone could understand Kieran and act as a translator for the rest o f the team. Unfortunately we returned to our usual form by going down by 30 points.

At this point in the season we were beginning to realise we weren't the group of beautiful rugby players with bags of talent that we thought we once were. However this didn't dent our confidence. This epitom izes the Hawks' team spirit that I have been lucky enough to be fam iliar with; I hope that this will continue well after I leave this school.We then went on to complete a couple o f very important fixtures for

m yself and the rest o f the players leaving this year. First, our last away game against Woodhouse Grove. Unfortunately, we lost this.Next cam e our last ever regular fixture for Durham School, against Pocklington. For this game the cam eras and photographers were out in force. Looking back on the game I have never seen such a poor standard o f rugby on the television. It rem inded me o f under 9's except everybody was a little bit bigger.On a personal note I have fond memories o f Pocklington with them being the only team I have ever scored against. Unfortunately we lost this game by two points. This was too much for some of the players to take and caused a couple o f them - namely Ryan M iller - to break down

and cry like a little girl. All joking aside, it was an emotional time knowing I may never play alongside people who I have played with for, in some cases, as long as 8 years. It was made worse by the fact during this season the Hawks had brought us closer together.From now on we knew every time we put on our shirt it could be for the last time as our season rested on our performance in the Lynn Mock Memorial Trophy. Unfortunately we lost in the quarter finals against Hartlepool. Although we lost, we scored unquestionably the greatest try the Playground has seen this season. This brought to a close our fifteen-a-side season , although we were unable to come on the right side o f many o f these matches. I will always cherish the things I saw this season ; some of them are never to be seen again, such as Ryan Miller crying yet again; Will Paxton making a tackle and most surprising of all, Lewis Banks talking in the team talk. However we had saved the best till last in our sevens season. We had prepared exceptionally well for this as we had three training sessions under a coach who we realised knew nothing about the sport we were playing . This was shown in the one move he taught us being an American football pass from one side of the pitch to the other. We tried this once and surprisingly it got intercepted and they scored, but who saw that coming? We knew we were going to have a tough time as in the day before tournam ent we played against the u l5 's who managed to break a player's nose and 'probably' beat us by 2 tries. 1 maintain to this day however we were just trying to help build their spirits. The sevens tournam ent was the perfect way to end my rugby career at Durham because never have I had so much fun on the rugby pitch ; this may have just been because we won 3 matches more than we won all season.This season could not have happened without the great motivational guidance o f Mr. Kime. I would also like to thank anyone who came to watch and support us even though most o f the time you took on the job o f consoling us not celebrating

‘Dunelmian 2007-08

SPORTwith us. Finally, for all the players next season I hope your new Captain- the man mountain that is Myles Green - will take you on to bigger and better things. Being a hawk is a special thing. It is a mental approach to the game of rugby and life outside it that says that things will go wrong from time to time, but that a robust person and a united team are ones who deal with these things head-on and take responsibility for their individual and collective actions. We play to enjoy playing and to win. If we lose, Hawks do not point the finger of blame at each other, we try to work out the solution. Sometimes we get it right first time; sometimes we don't. If we don't, we try again. And again.Remember: we fly together, we die together. Hawks for life.

Ryan Miller-Charlton OD Toby Rostron-M aher OD SJMK

U16XV

Prior to the launch o f the U16XV rugby season Mr. Maw, father of Joe Maw (U5), generously offered to

sponsor the team kit for the 2007/08 season through his company ‘ALLTRAC’. This was a very kind and generous gesture and one to which the boys appreciated immensely. This now gave the players an added incentive to play to their best in their new blue and white stripe kit and a big thank you must go to Mr. Maw for this.

Following the end o f a tough w eek’s pre-season training and the start of the school term our first opposition was Barnard Castle away. This game was highly anticipated and many players wanted to start the season on a high. Durham played out of their skins that sunny day, playing some exceptional expansive rugby, running the ball from all over the park but this Barnard Castle team proved to be too strong and the day ended 27 - 20 to Barnard Castle.

‘Dunelmian 2007-08 ...........

RGS Newcastle at home were our next challenge. That day Durham met a very big and mobile team who knew how to play rugby. Durham withstood a barrage of attacks from RGS in the first half but they broke the deadlock just before halftime with a score and this continued into the second half which ended 0 - 43 in RGS favour. Our style of playing a fast and expansive style o f rugby

convincingly in Durham ’s favour 36- 5 and 3 4 - 1 4 respectively. The boys were back on track. Congratulations have to go to both Joe Maw and Lewis Fraser who had both been selected to play for the IstXV. A slight re-juggling of the team ensued but Durham still felt confident in their abilities prior to one o f the biggest contests o f the season; Sedbergh away.Durham came out ferociously and

played against us that day and did not work against their quick rush defence, which proved extremely effective. Durham would have to develop their close ball retention skills to combat differing team strengths.

Next up were Fyling Hall and K ing’s Tynemouth. Both games ended

took no backward step that day to a team whom they had lost so convincingly last season and played with their hearts on their sleeves. However, the strength and depth of Sedbergh proved decisive with them running away worthy winners 7 7 - 3

Following such a physical encounter and a few injuries to one or two vital

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players further losses were conceded to Harton School and Hymers College. However, things then improved with a well earned win overG rindon Hall 6 7 - 12.

The last four games of the season saw a big improvement in the team s’ performance. First up were QEGS Hexam. This was a very closely contested game with nothing much between both teams which ended in a hard fought battle and QEGS winning 27 - 15. This proved to be the same story for games against Ampleforth, Woodhouse Grove and Pocklington with Durham losing with the smallest of margins.

The manner Durham conducted themselves in those last games o f the season was exemplary. The players could have easily dropped their heads and lost all desire for the gam e, but they all stuck at it and worked hard on improving their own individual performances.

Special congratulations must also go to David Taylor. Joe Maw and Lewis Fraser who were selected to play for Durham County this year and again to Lewis Fraser who was also selected to go on the North of England development weekend.

Good luck to all in your future rugby careers and to those coming back to Durham next year best of luck with the IstXV.

JG James

U15XV

This years Under 15 side were a very talented set of players who were a pleasure to work with. A

disappointing defeat to ‘B arney’ was soon forgotten with a superb away victory to our other local rivals RGS Newcastle. This result gave the lads the confidence to believe they were capable of beating anybody on their day. A comfortable win against Kings

school Tynemouth then saw us travel to Sedbergh.After a rather jovial warm up I had my doubts as to whether the players were in the right frame o f mind to face probably our toughest game of the season. When the team emerged from the dressing room and ran onto the pitch I could then see that I had nothing to worry about. In the first ten minutes Sedbergh were not quite sure what had hit them. Our pack

dom inated the early stages of that game and the backs were making good, clean breaks. One particular break should have seen us gain some reward for our efforts but a stray forward pass held us back when a try seemed imminent. Looking back on the game it was certainly a major factor in the result that we failed to take any points during that period when we controlled most o f the ball. O f course credit must be given to our opponents for their tight defence. Inevitably Sedbergh managed to get themselves back into the game and a mistake by us resulted in a turnover that they capitalised on and went ahead 7-0. This was pretty hard to take considering our start but the team responded well and scored a brilliant try with Emilio Arceri touching down. Unfortunately in

scoring the try Emilio was injured and had to come off. It was going to be one of those days! Points were exchanged as the game went from end to end and with 15 minutes to go we were 17-15 up. All of those hill runs that the Sedbergh boys go on began to take affect as if we were brutally honest with ourselves it was their superior fitness that took the game away from us during that final quarter. Having said that it was one

of the most enjoyable games of Rugby I have seen and the boys were extremely proud of their efforts.A comfortable win against Hymers gave us a good foundation to embark on our route to Twickenham in the Daily Mail cup. During that cup run we played our best rugby of the whole season against QEGS Hexham on the playground. Lewis Hall continued to be a force to be reckoned with as his explosive ball carrying caused chaos in the Hexham defence. That was balanced with the skill and guise of our halfbacks Henry Pemberton and Robbie Griffin. We beat Hexham 35-0 that day but they were to gain revenge (in more ways than one!) at a later date. Our Daily Mail cup run came to an abrupt halt when we travelled to Stokesley in the fifth

‘DuneCmian 2007-08

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U14XV

round. Making it to the last 32 o f a national competition is an excellent achievement but to be fair the team had set their hearts on going all the way. I could write many things on this particular game but I prefer to concentrate on only the fact that there was nothing between these two excellent sides and nobody could

argue that any particular one team deserved to go through more than the other. The Stokesley team played excellently and never gave us any space to play and they had some very talented boys.With only the sevens competition left for us to win any silverware we travelled to Ampleforth looking

forward to getting stuck in. We felt that we would have a decent chance but managed to get off to a dreadful start in our first game as we had confused sevens rugby with touch rugby! Once we had decided to play our natural game o f strong running and aggressive defence we swept aside St Peters York 44-0 and Bradford Gram mar 38-0 with comparative ease. Due to our defeat in the first game this meant a 2nd place finish in our pool and the reward? .. a quarter final against our old friends Sedbergh!Once again the boys rose to the challenge and this time managed to take the lead with an early try.With only a few minutes to go they did it again! Two tries in succession saw them come from behind and nick it from us once again.I thoroughly enjoyed this season and can 1 thank all the boys who played but in particular Lewis Hall for his superb leadership.

G Hal lam

The U14 Rugby teams have progressed this season, however they have faced many frustrating

times and been on the wrong side of games which could have gone either way. Having put out three sides to play Ampleforth College almost every boy in the year group represented his school which is an excellent achievement. The ‘A’ team firstly drew with Woodhouse Grove. This close result along with losing to Pocklington, RGS, Newcastle and King’s Tynemouth by one score, summed up their season. Although there is a lot of athletic talent in the year group, they do not apply it when the going gets tough. With a little more grit and determination they could progress to be a good year group, however this will not happen unless they are willing to battle hard when it matters.Their most notable victories this season came against Dame A llan’s,

Vunelmian 2007-08

winning 36-24 and QE Hexham, winning 38-0. George Robinson lead the side with a great energy from his N o.8 position. If heads went down he would still be battling on. Alex Clewes has also had a good season floating between being the corner stone o f the scrum at prop to

one o f the toughest open side flankers around. Jonny Galbraith- Brown has shown great potential at full back along with Alex Swart in the centre and Jam es W hyte at hooker. All are names to look out for in the future.

SPORT

DuneCmian 2007-08

U13XVU14 Results Date8.9.0715.9.0722.9.0724.9.0729.9.074.10.076.10.0713.10.0718.10.073.11.0710.11.0717.11.0724.11.071.12.0719.1.087.2.08

Played Won 16 5

1)13 Results Date25.9.072.10.079.10.0713.10.0716.10.0730.10.076.11.0710.11.0713.11.0720.11.0719.1.0829.1.089.2.08

Played Won13 8

Lost5

Drawn0

U13 Sevens30.1.085.3.088.3.0813.3.08U12 Sevens11.3.08

CompetitionCundall Manor Terrington Hall Mowden Hall Durham School

Durham County

ResultCup semi-final Plate semi-final Plate semi-final Cup semi-final

Cup Winners

Opponents ResultBarnard Castle 0-27 LostRGS Newcastle 14-20 LostKings, Tynemouth 12-15 LostGrindon Hall 62-0 WonSedbergh 0-48 LostN.S.B 60-12 WonHymers College 15-46 LostDame Allans 36-24 WonHarton 19-33 LostQEGS Hexham 38-0 WonAmpleforth College 10-26 LostYarm School 0-12 LostWoodhouse Grove 0-0 DrewPocklington 0-7 LostDuchess High School 10-17 LostEgglescliffe 58-0 Won

Lost Drawn 10 1

The U 12 and U13 year groups have generally combined forces to play the majority o f their matches this

season sim ilar to how prep schools assemble their sides. This is due to numbers in the year groups and also in an attempt to accelerate development of the younger players. This has resulted in four U13 teams and occasionally, an U12 and U13 ’A’ & ‘B’ team.

The U 13 ‘A’ team saw early successes beating Grindon Hall, Newcastle School for Boys and Choristers by 40 points. They then produced narrow but good wins over Harton School and touring side Brentwood School. Fielding four teams against St.M artins, Ampleforth and Harton saw every boy in year 7 and 8 play for school, with the ‘A’,’B ’ and ‘C ’ team all coming out with victories. The ‘D ’ team narrowly losing to St.M artins by 12 points.

The enthusiasm o f all the boys has been outstanding all season. If this continues then there is the talent to produce a very exciting future.

During the 7 ’s season the U13 played in several tournam ents reaching the semi-final of the Cundall M anor 7 ’s & Durham School 7 ’s, along with the plate semi-final at Terrington Hall and M owden Hall.

The U 12’s entered the Durham County 7 ’s for the first time ever and won, beating Barnard Castle in the semi-final and Yarm School in the final.

Opposition ResultGrindon Hall 50-12 WonChoristers 54-10 WonHarton 29-20 WonDame Allans 10-25 LostBrentwood school (touring side) 19-12 WonNewcastle Boys 54-7 WonRed House 5-22 LostAmpleforth College 26-32 LostYarm School 0-31 LostSunderland High 51-0 WonHarton 14-24 LostGrindon Hall 49-12 WonEgglescliffe 29-24 Won

SPORT

SPORT

Boys’ Cricket report

It has been a good season for Durham School Cricket Club which has seen some excellent re­

sults from a num ber o f teams.

The 1st XI has had an average 1st half of the season after an enjoyable tour to Hong Kong. After a couple of disappointing losses the team came together and were undefeated after half term, winning 6 matches in a row.

1st X1 Cricket

The report on the 2008 l st XI Cricket Season is quite extensive as we toured Hong Kong at Easter

and W orcester at the end of term .The reason for the two tours is not only to expand the boys’ cricketing education but to make the fixture list is extensive enough in such a short term .

Due to the weather and exam pres-

Kowloon Cricket Club, first against the Hong Kong under 17s, which we won by one wicket. The second was a game against a Kowloon select XI which we lost in the last over.

After a weekend off, shopping, going to the beach, enjoying a junk boat cruise and generally taking in all we could o f the amazing city, we went up to the Hong Kong Cricket Club, another beautiful cricket ground. We played two games, losing both. The first against a Hong Kong Select XI,

The U l5 XI having got through to the Lords’ Taveners' National Cup, as Durham County representatives, lost in the 2nd round of the north section to Cumbrian winners Sedbergh.They then went on to win the Durham County U15 Cup. Again going into a national cup, they lost to Yorkshire winners, Woodhouse Grove in the north semi-final.

The LI I3 ’s have had and excellent season fielding an A, B & C team. They won the Durham School 6 a- side tournam ent, beating Yarm in the final.

We have a number of boys represent­ing Durham County. They are as fol­lows:

Durham County U12:Elliott Foster

Durham County U14:James M itchinson, Ben Simpson

Cleveland County U14:George Robinson

Durham County U15:Ross Burdon, Lewis Hall Northumberland County U l5 :Robbie Griffin

Durham Academy:Michael Turns (also County U17 captain)

B. Mason

sure, we only played 12 fixtures in 2007. In 2008 we fixtured 21 games plus the tour of Hong Kong. Consid­ering the bad summer, we only had 2 games abandoned. We won 12 gam es, lost 4 and drew 3. The last time the school won more games was back in the 1994 season when they won 13 with players of the calibre of Robin W eston, Wayne Ritzema and Chris Clarke in the team.

Although 12 wins is very impressive, we still lost a few important games against Sedbergh and Barnard Castle which, had we won, would have made the season an outstanding one.

We toured Hong Kong at Easter for10 days playing 4 games against quality team s, on fabulous wickets and with great facilities. To start the tour, we played 2 games at the scenic

the second against the Hong Kong National U19 team.

It was an amazing experience for the boys and great preparation for the season. Noteable performances on tour:

Lewis Hall37 for 4 v Hong Kong U 17s

Lewis Hall82 v Kowloon Select XI

Michael Turns51 for 4 v Kowloon Select XI

Will Cleaver90 v Hong Kong U 19s

T)uneimian 2007-08

SPORTAfter the heat o f Hong Kong, we re­turned to a very cold day at the Play­ground to play the Catholic college touring from Dublin, with Michael Turns (105) and James Ritzem a (85). We scored 256 for 7 declared. Not able to take the last wicket the game ended in a draw 182 for 9 with Will C leaver taking 39 for 6.

We then played the Stockton Cricket Academy in an overs game and won by 63 runs, with M ichael Turns and James Ritzem a both m aking 50 and Richard Gregory and Phil Blenkin- sop taking 2 w ickets each.

Next we welcom ed G iggleswick after not playing against them for a few seasons. In an overs match, we lost by 2 w ickets - a very close game that could have gone either way.

We then travelled to Sedbergh. A l­though we had changes in the match we were com pletely outplayed and lost, Sedbergh 246 for 9, Durham 107 all out. Lewis Hall had the only noteable perform ance taking 5 w ick­ets for 48 runs.

The challenge for the boys now was to prove that the Sedbergh game was just a bad match. With 20/20 cricket taking off around the globe, a com ­

petition between North Eastern schools was form ed. Our first game was against Barnard Castle with us

winning the match. Barnard Castle 125 for 5, Durham 128 for 5 (Ritzema 49).

We then welcomed RGS Newcastle, bowling and fielding really well. We bowled RGS out for 126 with Will Paxton taking 5 for 27 runs. We won

the match by just 2 wickets with Lewis Hall 32 and Ross Burdon 30 making match winning contributions.

The next day we played Durham County U17s. A tough fixture but again we batted without confidence and were bowled out for 115 and lost by 8 wickets.

Welcoming the MCC to the Play­ground and with Michael Turns re­turning to full bowling fitness, we restricted the MCC to 186 for 9 (Simon Birtwistle OD 86) Turns 4 - 55. We knocked off the runs for the loss of 3 wickets - Turns 79 not out - a fabulous result.

Barnard Castle came to the Play­ground. The conditions were ap­palling and only because o f the w illingness from both sides, we man­aged to play the game. Barnard Cas­tle bowled us for 106 and deserved to win convincingly by 6 wickets.

Durham Sixth Form played us in a 20/20 game. Durham Sixth Form 80 for 8 - School won off the last ball thanks to Will C leaver making 22 n.o.

Travelling to Ampleforth we produced one of our best performances o f the season bowling Ampleforth out for

W R Cleaver 129 25 393 26 6 - 3 9 15.11M Turns 68.1 19 182 11 4 - 5 5 16.54L Hall 97.5 15 370 21 5 - 4 8 17.61W R Paxton 108.1 15 431 24 5 - 2 5 17.95N Shaw 111 22 390 18 6 - 2 5 21.66

Awards Fielding-Lewis Hall, Bowling-Wili Cleaver, Batting-James Ritzema Maurice Bell Most Improved Award Lewis HallMichael Hirsch Outstanding 1st XI Cricketer Will Cleaver

Averages, not Batting

M Turns J Ritzema W R Cleaver W R Paxton L Hall

Bowling

including the Hong Kong tour:

Inns. No. Runs11 2 44618 1 74116 4 44812 5 18213 1 197

Overs Maidens Run Wickets

H.S. Av.105 49.5597* 43.5896 37.3349* 26.0047 16.41

Best bowling Average

BliW ‘Dunefmian 2007-08

SPORT121 thanks to a brilliant spell of bowl­ing by Nick Shaw - 6 for 24. We knocked off the runs with the loss of just 2 wickets (Turns 29, Ritzema 50).

The 20/20 competition continued with a thumping victory over Yarm (Durham 196 for 0 off 20 - Yarm 96 for 8). We qualified for the Northern 20/20 finals day but it was not played due to bad weather.

We then entertained a strong Pilgrims side containing 7 Premier League cricketers and the School fielding a young team because of exam s. We bowled the Pilgrims out for 170 (Pax­ton 3 - 34, Robbie Griffin 3 - 30, Callum Bryden 2 - 23). We knocked off the runs for the loss of 5 wickets (Durham 171 for 5, Ritzema 37,Turns 49, Paxton 21 n.o.). Another fabulous result!

The next game was against K ing’s School, Tynemouth but shortly after

mond, another brilliant run chase en­abled another thrilling victory (RGS 264 - 4 off 40 overs. Durham 267 -8 (Cleaver 96, Elliott 50).

The O.D. match was a 20/20 fixture. It was won for the fourth year in a row by the boys (School 184 - 5 - Ritzema 47 and Cleaver 80 n.o. - O.Ds 1 2 5 - 7 Paul Muchall 40). A special thanks must go to all the ODs who play and also who support the presentation barbequc after the match for the cricket club.

The final term time match was a 40 overs game against Durham 6th Form College. Batting first the School posted 206 -5. Ritzema 61, Turns 49. Winning easily, we bowled the 6th Form College out for 60 (Paxton 4 - 29).

We then departed on a tour to W orcester. Brom sgrove, our first match, was washed out by torrential rain. The second match was against

game at whatever level they aspire to and all the lads returning must work hard in the winter to improve next season.

Special thanks must go to all the peo­ple who help the cricket season to op­erate. Dam ien, the groundsman, and the kitchen staff deserve special praise. The boys and I must thank all the other cricket staff, especially Maurice Bell for his unbelievable support.

It has been an excellent season and I look forward to the next one.

Michael Fishwick

2nd X1 Cricket

My introduction to the report has always referred to the weather on my arrival and this will be no ex­

cep tion .... W HO W, coming from a warm dry 35c to a chilly, damp 9c to coach cricket was always going to be a challenge. The squad I was given responded to the goals I set them in a very positive manner which I greatly appreciated. A big contributing factor for the teams success was the leader­ship qualities o f our captain Harry Booth. Harry was able to develop a winning attitude in players Toby Ros- tron- Maher, Alex Willings, Peter Baird, Ashley Shaw, Jack Mitchell, Jack Deverson, Oliver Holmes, Cal­lum Bryden, Robert Simms, David Walker, Phillip Tait, Alistair Gal­braith- Brown Jabed Amin and James Ross.

Our first match o f the season would have been against Ashville, but was cancelled due to wet weather. The players were disappointed as we were confident of putting up a good display of our talents.The first real test came when we trav­elled to Giggleswick. Harry won the toss and sent the opposition into bat, a very good decision as we bowled them out for 48 runs. Alex Willings, Peter Baird took 2 wickets each, but Robert Simms turned in a match win­ning performance with a 5 wicket haul.

starting the match, rain intervened and the match ended with a draw.

A new fixture against Chester le Street Cricket Club was played on the Playground. An excellent batting wicket enabled Chester to make 230- 3 off 45 overs. In reply, the School made 2 3 1 - 3 (Ritzema 52, Hall 47, Cleaver 66 n.o. Paxton 49 n.o.) win­ning the game with a brilliant run chase.

Our yearly return against R G S is al­ways an overs match. Played at Jes-

K ing’s, Worcester. Batting first, Durham blasted 287 - 9 from 50 overs. Ritzema and Temple hitting numerous sixes into New Road (W orcestershire C.C.C.) situated next to our ground. We won the match, restricting k ing’s to 193 all out. A great way to end an enjoyable cricket season.

All the boys listened and worked hard to improve. They should take away a lot from the season. Hopefully all the leavers will continue to play the great

Tfunelmian 2007-08

SPORTJack Deverson and Oliver Holmes

then went out and scored the runs needed for victory.

We welcomed Sedbergh on a lovely cricket day. The Pitch and outfield looked a picture. The boys were feeling confident o f playing good cricket against a talented Sedbergh team, a side that is well managed and has always been a little better than our 2nd team on the field. Sedbergh batted first and with their top four batsmen batting well we looked to be heading for a long day in the field. The boys always stuck to their belief that if they continued to bowl line and length and gave 100% in the field wickets would fall. This did happen due to good attacking bowling by Robert Simms, Oliver Holm es, Peter Baird and Jack Mitchell. Sedbergh all out 170 runs, and the manager for Sedbergh made special mention to me that the bowling and fielding by the team was the best they had encountered for many seasons of 2nd team cricket. It was nice to hear.

Toby Rostron Maher and Jack Deverson put on an excellent opening stand with a mixture o f good defence, and attacking stroke play, Toby scored 55 runs and Jack 43 runs,Harry Booth our skipper made a quick fire 38 runs which gave the team a big chance o f a clear cut victory... 21 runs required with still 7 wickets in hand and 18 balls to be bowled was going to be a close one. The Sedbergh players lifted in the field and their bowlers bowled extremely well to deny us of a clear victory. We ended up 6 wickets down for 166 runs, just 4 short.

Our next fixture was at R.G S. Newcastle played on the lovely Jesmond cricket ground. The game was a 30 overs each team match, Harry won the toss and elected to bat, such was the confidence he was instilling into his team. Alex Willings, Andrew Shaw got the side off to a good start, supported by Oliver Holmes, middle order batsmen Peter Baird and Callum Bryden then played good attacking strokeplay to

have Durham finish on 5wkts for148 runs......for us to win we neededevery bowler to bowl at his top .. this they did and with every fieldsman giving his best we were able finish winners by 12 runs ... the bowlers were.. Alex W illings, Peter Baird, Oliver Holmes, Alistair Galbraith - Brown, Andrew Shaw and James Ross .. a good win as it gave youngr players an opportunity to show their skill under pressure Again our scheduled fixture against Barnard Castle was rained off, the

fifth time in the past six years., the team were disapppinted.

O ur preparation for the match against Ampleforth was not good , due to lack o f practice because of good reasons such as study leave , weather and half term availability..... . It was a lovely day to play cricket on a wicket that was true and bouncy, Ampleforth won the toss, and sent us in.... Andrew Shaw and Jack Deverson gave us a steady start against a very good bowling side.... it was not long before we were in trouble and it was left to our tail end batsmen Jack Mitchell and Alistair Galbraith-Brown to get us to a total o f 120 runs. We batted 39 of our 40 overs which showed we would not go down without a fight. Brilliant

bowling by Jack Mitchell and Alistair Galbraith -B row n backed up from good fielding from the whole team saw us have Ampleforth 18 runs for 4 wickets. The boys were on a roll but lack of practice by the team and the hot sun for the first time took the energy from the players. They gave their best which is all that counts. Ampleforth won by 4 wkts.

The popular 20/ 20 overs game was played on the playground on 18th June. We played against Durham 6th

Form College. They got away to a flying start even though the bowling was steady, but Durham School was full o f character and with everyone playing a part the 6th form team was dism issed for 97. Positive batting by all the Durham School team contributed to an exciting win by 2 wickets. I as manager/coach of this team applaud the manner in which our captain Harry Booth marshalled his team before and during the game. Well done to the Team.H B oo th ...T Rotron-M aher...R G regory ...A Shaw ... P Baird ...C Bryden ... I Mitchell ...J D everson... R Simms ...A G albraith-B row n... O H olm es...J R oss....

Ron Booth

‘Duneimian 2007-08

SPORT

U15 X1 Cricket U14 X1 Cricket

This season has been a little dis­appointing with some good re­sults. We lost a few games by a very

small margin. I personally am not that disappointed as at the moment, we probably don’t hit the ball as hard as some o f the teams we play against.

At tim es, we have struggled to score fast enough but as the boys’ bodies develop and get stronger I feel we could have some very good batsmen.

Batting - James Mitchinson shows enormous potential to develop into a very good batsman. Robbie Mc- Glasham, George Robinson and Charlie Baird are batsmen who again will develop and make lots of runs. Matthew Petts, hasn 't made many runs this year but will, I am sure, develop into a very good player.Ben Simpson has been a very good all rounder for us and at times has bowled very fast for his age playing some outstanding cricket. George Robinson has been good behind the stumps.

Fast bowling - We have some prom­ising fast/medium bowlers and at times Ben Cronin, Will Megginson, Phil W hitfield and Will Adey have all bowled well.

Spin bowling - James Mitchinson and Charlie Baird are both promis­ing young spin bowlers.

The U 14s has been a very big squad and it’s very pleasing to see both the ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams showing improve­ment.

Mike Hirsch

‘DuneCmian 2007-08

SPORT

U13 X1 CricketU13sBOWLING

Overs Runs Wckts AverageD Elliott 30 143 3 47.6J McCann 27 131 8 16.38K Atkinson 6 32 3 10.67D Turnbull 15 93 4 23.25D Bailey 6.2 10 5 2M Calvert 9 24 1 24J Beeson 27 64 16 4E Horner 17 54 10 5.4E Foster 18 72 5 14.4

BATTING

Average1528.118.123.4 10.61513.4 12.616

Innings RunsE Horner 9 75D Elliott 9 198D Bailey 9 90J Beeson 7 117M Calvert 4 32J Knaggs 2 30E Foster 6 67J Noble 5 38B Thompson 4 48

GAMES PLAYED = 10 GAMES WON = 6 GAMES LOST = 4

VuneCmian 2007-08

SPORTHead of the Charles

The Boat Club

The 2007-8 season with hindsight can be described as a bit of a watershed year in that this was the year we started to fulfil some of the promise we had

been developing and have now got the mom entum to move the Boat Club onto a new level.But let’s start by looking how the season progressed term by term.Before the season started in earnest the prospect o f an Eight running through the season was possible so to start the project off we entered the crew, a combination of J 16s and J 17s in the Boston Marathon. This is a 32 mile race from Lincoln to Boston, not the normal length o f race! The crew came together really well through the race com pleting the course in 4 hours. This event was always something they could draw on through the rest of their year.The start of the Northern Rowing Council Sculling Series was blessed with some very good weather and pupils enjoyed the first Head on the Tyne with both girls and boys crews testing the water after a Septem ber of training. The second race in the series, the Wansbeck Long Distance Sculls reaped rewards for the crews with wins for the J 16s o f Tom M addick, Josh Tognarelli, Phil Anderson and Matt Smith in the Senior 4 Quad, they were joined by Dan and Sam Ciam polillo winning their double, the girls of Natalie Carroll, Charlotte Grossm ann, Caitlin Errington and Kate Dudgeon winning novice quads and the J 15s of Ed Lonsdale, Harry W hite, Jordan Burnard, Alan Carter and Sam Storer also winning their quad event. At Hylton Long

Durham School 1st Eight at the Head of the Charles, Boston, USA, renew their acquaintance with Andy Hodge, stroke of the Olympic Gold

medal winning coxless Four.

Distance Sculls the girls continued their early form with a win with Isabel Minuth in for Charlotte Crossmann. The Club had a sweep of wins in the singles event with James Pinner winning J 18 single, Tom Edwards winning Senior 4, Dan Ciam polillo winning Novice and coaches holding their own in Veteran and Senior 2 with another win for the girls. This time Kate Dudgeon and Isabel Minuth in their double. Isabel then went on to a very creditable win in her single at the Senate Cup, the Durham University Head race which the school gets invited to compete in. The School 1st IV performed well against the University boats missing out on

“Mileage makes Champions” July 2008

Durham School 1st VIII at Henley Royal Regatta first time racing in the Princess Elizabeth Cup since the 1960’s

ThineCmian 2007-08

SPORTwinning the event by less than a second! The racing on the water finished for the term at the Rutherford Head in Newcastle where the Club fielded its first ever girls eight with a view to compete in the W omen’s Head of the River.Before the term ended there was also the North East Indoor Rowing Championships held at Maiden Castle sports centre. Some very impressive results with six medals won, silver for Phil Anderson, Charlotte Grossmann, bronze for Josh Tognarelli, Dan Ciampolillo, Caitlin Errington and Marcus MacQuillan.

The Easter term brought eights rowing to the fore as the two main goals of the W omen’s Head and the Schools Head loomed large. However on the way to these events there was Durham Small Boats Head where the Boat Club again picked up some encouraging wins. The Club Captain, Dan Ciampolillo lead the way winning the Novice single and then with brother Sam won the Novice double, the girls double of Kate Dudgeon and Isabel Minuth repeated their Wear success and then Isabel joined by Jess Hannah, Amy

Matthews and Zoe Rutter won the Novice coxed quad. Tom Edwards rowing with a fellow junior from Tyne Rowing Club won the pairs event

I which augured well as the two of

them were racing in that combination in the Great Britain trials later on .Before the major Head races there was also a weekend of trials for the regional team that was to race at the Junior Inter Regional Regatta in April.

This proved to be valuable experience for some younger crews but also rewarding for the J 16 girls and boys. After the trials the school had eleven pupils selected to represent the Northern Region, the J 16 coxless Four of Tom Maddick, Josh Tognarelli, Phil Anderson and Matt Smith and then with Jack Deverson in the J 16 Eight as w ell. The girls’ J 16 Eight included Charlotte Grossmann, Caitlin Errington, Amy Matthews, Jess Graham, Zoe Rutter and coxed by Anna Daglish. It was a big shame that the event in April was to end up being cancelled due to the adverse weather conditions but still an achievement for all those pupils to get selected for the region.

Then came the weekend of the W omen’s Head of the River in London, to be followed by the Schools’ Head a few days later. The girls travelled down on the Friday to then spend the evening at London Rowing Club hearing from Vicky Bryant, a GB under 23 International.On the Saturday the crew of Kate Dudgeon, Isabel Minuth, Charlotte Grossmann, Caitlin Errington, Amy Matthews, Rosie Manners, Natalie Carroll, Zoe Rutter coxed by Marcus Haworth raced the University Boat

‘Duneim ian 2007-08

SPORTRace course with the odd minor mishap but essentially unscathed coming in at 225th a good starting point to be improved upon next season. This was the school’s first girl’s eight at this international w om en’s event.The following Monday the boys ar­rived at London Rowing Club to have their chat to James Clarke, stroke of the World Cham pionship winning Lightweight Four and an ex Durham University student. They then joined the Italian juniors from Milan that

1 were racing for dinner at the Club. Jack Deverson was our volunteer to cox the Italians for the race for the second year.Unfortunately the weather struck, not for the first tim e, and the course was shortened which was not to our ad­vantage being a light crew. A good row saw the 1 st Eight come in 24th in Championship Eights. Interestingly a week later at the Eights Head which was over the full course the crew moved up the school “rankings” beat­ing crews that had beaten them over the shorter distance, mainly due to more effective rowing over the dis­tance. The Eight came 209th beating all other Northern Club crews and all but one o f the College crews. An en­couraging performance to take to the Easter training camp.Before the training camp in Belgium which was now into its third year Tom Edwards was invited to the GB Spring Assessm ents, part o f the trial­ing process for boys wanting to gain selection for the World or European Junior Rowing Cham pionships. This involved five days of racing and as­sessments to gain an invite to the next

stage of the process. Tom endured a tough few days but gained valuable experience with his pairs partner from Tyne Rowing Club.The last part o f the Easter holidays saw a group o f 24 pupils travel to Ghent in Belgium to train for a week on the 2000 metre lake there and then race in the Ghent Spring International Regatta. The camp has grown in size as well as success over the last three years with this one being the most successful to date. There was also a healthy group o f parents and support­ers who also ended up having a ses­sion in the Eight on the Friday morning much to the pupils de­light....and the coaches’ consterna­tion.After some solid training the racing over the weekend took over the lake and all the pupils ended up racing in various combinations. Tom Edwards racing with his Tyne partner in prepa­ration for a GB trials event raced ex­ceptionally well in the pair and then with Jack Deverson and James Pinner and a Bradford Gram mar School rower won the Junior Coxed Four event. Tom then went on the race in a M onm outh School Eight who were short a body and won a silver medal in Junior Eights. Kate Dudgeon like­wise helped the St Peters School girls Eight win a silver medal in the W omen’s Eight event. There were some very good performances from the J 16s in both their Four and Quad and an encouraging race from a J 18 Quad with James Pinner and Sam Ciam polillo in. The girls raced their first International race in a quad gain­ing invaluable experience.With some enjoyable evenings out

talking about the training and the rac­ing the camp proved its value and thanks to those staff who helped, coached and drove.The summer term started with the Junior Inter Regional Regatta, but it d idn’t last long as weather forced its cancellation. The day after Tom Ed­wards raced in the GB trials Regatta coming a very pleasing 6th in the pair overall and putting him in a very solid position for the final trials and GB selection.A quick trip down to York Spring saw the J 14s of Matthew Evans and Mar­cus M acQuillan get to grips with their double in an encouraging couple of races and Graham Thorpe punching above his weight in his single. A girls’ double of Kate Dudgeon and Natalie Carroll showed some signs of a prom­ising combination and Tom Edwards and James Pinner picked up a win in the pair.At Durham City Regatta we tested out the 1st Eight in its run up to Hen­ley Royal Regatta but it underper­formed losing to a Durham City m en’s Eight. But what was exciting from the coaches’ perspective was the emergence o f a J15 Eight that had its first outing at the Regatta more for experience than anything else. This Eight improved a little at Tees Re­gatta as did the 1 st Eight but it was the g irls’ quad o f Kate Dudgeon, Natalie Carroll, Charlotte Grossmann, Amy Matthews and coxed by Jack Deverson who showed dominating form winning their event with then Kate and Natalie showing further im­provements in speed in their double just missing out in the final.

‘Dunefmian 2007-0S

SPORTOver the half term National Schools Regatta took place in Nottingham. The Boat Club had a J15 Eight, a J 18 Eight which was then going to split into a J 16 and J 18 coxless four later on and a Girls J 16 coxed Four. Our gap student coach, Jamie Kirkwood, started the ball rolling with a silver medal in the single but conditions started to deteriorate. The J 15 Eight given their limited time together did well to survive very testing condi­tions but very pleasingly managed to qualify for the semi final. Then the1 st Eight raced in one of the most in­teresting races I have ever witnessed. In the processional qualifying race Jack Deverson, the cox, was forced to steer down the course zig- zaging around a number o f capsized or sink­ing boats as the conditions turned even nastier. It is a testam ent to the crew ’s technical ability that they sur­vived the race without that much

water in the boat relative to their op­position. Suffice to say that just as our crew crossed the line the organiz­ers abandoned the event and no fur­ther racing happened, a great disappointment to the girls especially. A week later Tom Edwards, now with a new pairs partner from George Wat­sons College, went down to race at the Metropolitan Regatta at Dorney Lake as part of his preparation for the final GB selection trials in July. With O.D Geoff Potts, an ex GB rowing In­ternational himself, looking on. Tom come second in the final o f the top pairs event, then promptly won the senior 1 event convincingly from

some useful southern club crews. M ean­while further north the younger pupils were racing at Hexham Re­gatta and whilst there were no wins for them there was some good racing.Captain of Boats, Dan Ciam polillo came away with the only win in a pair with recent O.D Kris Shuttleworth. The highlight o f the school’s rowing season is the home event of Durham Regatta. Ironically in recent years not a regatta we seem to do particularly

well at but we will be working on that! The 1 st Eight got caught nap­ping on the Saturday but woke up sig­nificantly on the Sunday to have a good run of races in senior 3 eights losing to the winner. The crew split down into various combinations with a coxed Four on Sunday getting a good set of races again just losing out to the winners.The girls' Four that missed out at Na­tional Schools raced well just losing out in the final but then jum ping in an Eight and racing really well against the top Durham University W omen’s Eight. Jess Graham emerged as a find in the single after some good races at

the letter end of both days. The J15 boys coxed Four of Sam Storer. Harry W hite, Fraser Kirkley and Alan Carter had a storming race against a college crew again just missing out to them but growing visibly in the process. Again it was left to Dan Ciampolillo to lead by example winning to top doubles event with coach Jamie Kirk­wood.The highlight of the regatta after some o f the racing was actually the Mar­quee where parents and supporters put J on a fantastic spread of refreshment and support. There was a noticeable bank o f cheers as crews passed the bandstand on the racecourse as well as plenty o f post race analysis later!Many thanks to all the parents who helped so much over the weekend.The Annual Boat Club Dinner took place in Big School the weekend after the regatta to celebrate the improve­ments the club is making and the per- J formances of individuals within the club. Dan Ciampolillo handed over the reins of captaincy to his brother Sam and the Club recognized and thanked those who had supported and j helped the club so much. M r and Mrs Carter had very kindly bought a new coxed Four which was aptly named “Get Carter” and they duly covered the bows with champagne. The Club also received support from Mr Ha­worth in the form of a new pair, “JaniKing” and racing and crew kit had been provided by M r and Mrs Burnard and the company Sibsport.com. Many thanks to all these generous supporters. The Club also congratulated Dan Singleton on his award o f “Young Coach o f the Year” by the Amateur Rowing Associ­ation .

‘D undm ian 2007-08

SPORTThe main news after the D inner was that the 1st Eight of Tom M addick, Sam Ciam polillo Josh Tognarelli, Phil Anderson, Tom Edwards, James Pin­ner, Dan Ciam polillo, M att Smith and Jack Deverson had prequalified for the Princess Elizabeth Cup, the school eights event at Henley Royal Regatta. This was the first time in over twenty years that the school had attended the event. Before the crew left for the event they did a race "piece” on rowing machines lined up in a column in the school Quad show­ing the rest o f the school what they were going to go through physically.It ended up being a very interesting exercise. Then to Henley. After a cou­ple of days paddling on the course fine tuning starts and pushes the first day of the regatta came and the eight was to face K ing’s School Canter­bury. The race was a close one all the way and the much lighter School crew lost out by three quarters o f a length, never giving up all the way down the course. It was nice to see O.D and ex Olympic rower Robin Yarrow come to see the crew after the race congratulating them on just get­ting to the regatta.Both pupils and parents enjoyed the event and the experience im­mensely and it is one that will ap­pear on the Boat Club calendar annually!During the first few weeks of the holiday there was no respite.Tom Edwards, attending the final selection trials and after four days of seat racing, was successful in being selected to row for Great Britain in the coxless pair at the Euro­pean Junior Rowing Cham pionships.

This was an achievement in itself but after a week long training camp Tom raced in Cork where the event was and won a gold medal on both days, a fantastic result and one that will spur him on next year as he aims for the World Junior Rowing Cham pi­onships.As Tom was racing in Ireland there were crews racing at the National Cham pionships in Nottingham . The J 16 crew had suffered an injury and Matt Smith was unable to row so Josh Tognarelli, Phil Anderson and Tom M addick gained a George W atson’s rower and then went on to win gold in the J16 coxless Four event. After this Sam Ciam polillo and James Pinner rowing with rowers from Bradford Gram m ar Scholl and Queen Eliza­beth, Hexham won a bronze medal in the J 18 coxless Four. Jamie Kirkwood also won a gold medal in the light­weight double for the school then going on to row for England at the Home Countries International again winning Gold there. This w asn’t quite

Awards

Best New Junior - Marcus MacQuillan

G irls ' Rowing Award - Amy Matthews

Captain’s Shield for Sculling - James Pinner

Most Improved Oarsperson - Tom Maddick

Oarsperson of the Year Tom Edwards

DSBC Crew of the Year -1st Eight

Parents’ Plate (Boys) - Harry White

Parents’ Plate (Girls) Charlotte Grossmann

House Indoor Rowing Competition - Pimlico

2008-9 Captain of Boats - Sam Ciampolillo

2008-9 G irls ’ Captain - Amy Matthews

the end of the season as at the end of August a group went down to Hollingworth Lake for the North of England Sprint Championships. The girls raced well in both Quad, Double and coxed Four and the boys won a number o f events. Sam Ciampolillo and Tom Edwards winning the senior2 Quad and then coxed Four with James Pinner and Phil Anderson. Phil and James then winning J18 pair, with Tom and James winning senior 2 pair.This finished off the 2007-8 season. There were numerous firsts in the year, the girls at the W omen's Head, the boys at Henley, a GB Interna­tional, National Cham pions and over 55 wins for the season. The next sea­son promises to be exciting and suc­cessful once again starting off with the l st Eight racing at the Head of the C h a rle s , Boston USA.

Many thanks must go to all those staff who have helped in a variety o f ca­pacities, M r Hewitt and Miss Ross, Tom Robson, James Harris and Emma Steel our student coaches, Paul Atkinson and Mark Gardner for their driving skills in Europe, Jamie Kirk­wood who has now won his first

International vest as an athlete and aiming for the Youth Olympics,Mrs Edwards for the time she spends helping the girls and Dan Singleton.Continued thanks to all the par­ents, supporters and O.Ds in­volved; it does make a difference

to the club!Floreat Dunelmia!

JW

DuneCmian 2007-08

ARMY SECTIONLt. Col. JA Burgess Major NG Kern Major K Jones Lt. AR Wallace 2nd Lt. SJM Kime 2nd Lt. A de Lange 2nd Lt. K Brien W011 P Atkinson

ROYAL NAVAL SECTIONLieutenant RN Hewitt

ROYAL AIR FORCESquadron Leader J Curry Pit Off. DB Aitken

Army Exhibition

This year thirty two cadets and two staff, KSJ and ARW, attended the third day of the Army Exhibition (North) staged once again at Marne Barracks, Catterick. Over the three day period it was antici­pated that more than 20 000 pupils from Liverpool and Leeds to Black­pool and Berwick upon Tweed would attend; indeed it was busy.

This is a showcase of what trades the Army has to offer and, as well as being a recruitment tool, it is also a grand day out.

The weather threatened, the wind got up which was more then the parachute display team did and even the motorbike display was curtailed after a clearance of three estate cars, buffeting wind causing unacceptable ‘wobble’.

This was the first year that we did not take a compulsory Shell outing but allowed all CCF cadets in all year groups to attend. For those intending to join the Forces it was an ideal opportunity to ask perti­nent questions about potential ca­reers and routes through shorter or longer periods of service. For all it was a day well spent.

CCF Field Weekend

Catterick being fully booked for this particular weekend we man­aged to find a corner of the Otter- burn training area and a wet weather base at a Farm to the east of the area opposite the Si- monside Hills. The event was well attended, however the weather forecast was threatening and in­deed as soon as the ‘basha’s had been set up they were tested by a series of quite heavy downpours. This had the advantage of proving the effectiveness of the range of constructions at keeping kit dry but the disadvantage of a few proving ineffective and sleeping bags beginning to get damp. The effectiveness of wet weather gear was tested and a small minority of cadets also learned the merit of looking after dry kit - and keeping it dry. They learned the hard way, they got it wrong. The ‘concrete tents’ with bunk accommodation proved necessary and all were warm enough if damp at the edges. As a consequence of the night’s rainfall the area was very damp the next morning and to­gether with a small number still being soaked we decided to cut short the next day’s training and return early to school. This was the second field day this academic year to have the plug pulled as out October training weekend at Catt­erick was abandoned after two soldiers lost their lives in the same area during training in torrential rain. I thank W 02 Atkinson for his hard work in setting up the train­ing, SJMK and ARW for their sense of humour when the

'Dunelmian 2007-08

CCF CFAV (Cadet Force Adult Volunteers) news

Major N G Kern leaves us at the end of this term and in him we will lose an experienced Army Officer with many years service at Rugby School, Repton where he was Con­tingent Commander, and as Head­master he managed to make time to carry on with an active interest in the CCF at Durham School. He will be exchanging DPM for a bush hat and SA80 for a Kalashnikov.

Also retiring from school and a long service record with the CCF is Lt Col J A Burgess who started his CCF career at Oundle School and continued his service at Durham School. For many years he was Contingent Commander and will be remembered with great fondness by ODs whose first ex­perience of the Scottish hills was through the Easter Camps that he organised, first camping in the boggy, snowy wilderness that is Rannoch Moor and then when the

weather was at its worst,Mrs Jones for providing female cover and we will expect the Chaplain to pray for bet­ter weather when we next take twenty five cadets and four staff in to the Field for Summer Camp at the end of term based at Penhale, Cornwall.

Combined Cadet Force ARMYtraining ceased to be ‘Arduous’ and became ‘Adventurous’ the camp moved to the luxury of being based at the hostel in Crianlarich. This has continued unbroken, save for the ‘Foot and Mouth’ year of 2001 when much of the land was closed over the Easter period.

I thank both for their long service and dedication to safe, but adven­turous, training. We will be the poorer for their departing, anec­dotes abound and in the staff room characters have lived on long after their sell-by date. We wish them well in their retirement.

We will be joined by two new CFAVs. The new Headmaster will be putting on his uniform once again in order to lend assistance to the Army section and Miss Burnie will make a splash as she takes up the darker blue and helps Lt Hewitt steer a course through untroubled waters with the navy section.

CCF Easter Camp 2008

traces of the season’s snow on the higher summits by Easter there was a significant amount of snow lying on the hills with the snowline at around 400m.

This limited our peak bagging to the lower summits though by the end of a glorious week there was

bothy for those cadets new to the camp.

All ‘enjoyed’ a period of kayak in­struction on Loch Tulla despite near freezing conditions and the ‘Bog Hop’, a 21 km jaunt along the West Highland Way (a sort of half marathon with questions to an­swer along the way), this year was won by Peter Holder and Joshua McBride.

Conduct and behaviour were ex­emplary and commented on by lo­cals in shops and cafes, passengers on the train, fellow hostellers, the Warden of the hos­tel and a member of staff from Sedbergh whom we happened to meet in and around the hostel.

My thanks, as ever, go to mem­bers of staff who give up a week of their holiday to attend the camp, SJMK, ARW, Mrs & Mrs Atkinson, Miss Ruth Henniker- Major and Sgt ‘Gen’ Paton who at­tended as kayak instructor.

My thanks also to the Cadets at­tending for making the camp such a pleasure to run once again: Maxine BREWSTER, Kate DUDGEON, Rosie MANNERS, Sam WILKES,Sam ARMSTRONG, Matthew EVANS, Lewis FRASER, Peter HOLDER, Fraser JACKSON, Stewart KIRKLEY, Joshua McBRIDE, William MEGGINSON, Henry PEMBERTON, Michael SILCOCK, Andrew SWINBURN, Michael SWINBURN

KSJ

‘Dunelm ian 2007-08

Following the end of the Easter Term fifteen cadets and two mem­bers of staff journeyed north for the 24th Easter Camp at Crian­larich.Whilst the February recce saw alpine conditions with high pres­sure bringing warmth in di­rect sunlight, but sub-zero air tem­peratures, and just a few

slightly less icing on the hills and selected higher hills in some areas were more accessible.

Walks through the glens included a visit to Rob Roy’s ‘putting stone’ and the customary visit to his grave in Balquhidder, a longer 48km walk from Corrour station to Ft William around Ben Nevis with

a quick sprint up Beinn na Lap and an over night stay at

Meanach bothy and ashorter walk to Gorton

Combined Cadet Force NAVYR.N. SECTION REPORT

September 2007 saw a small but enthusiastic band of

cadets fully engaged in a number of exciting activities. Thursday pa­rades saw the annual raft race preparations well under way. Two competing teams produced some diverse and interesting rafts that inspired confidence in varying de­grees. After a number of rebuilds and various customisations the craft took to the river for a highly enjoyable race, though the end re­sult is still debated.Wednesday afternoons saw the re-emergence of windsurfing as a section activity after a two year break. This was the result of new daily timings that allowed us to get to Bishopton after lessons with enough daylight left to see the other side of the lake. Eight cadets took up the challenge of standing on a wobbly plank of plastic and risking a fall into cold water. Everyone seemed to enjoy the ex­perience and some became quite skilled in the short time we had. Kassy Liu did particularly well. Sunday sailing was well supported and Tom Newbould and Sam Wilkes represented the school at the National Regatta in Portsmouth. As always the stan­dard is very high but they did not disgrace themselves and finished a creditable 23 out of 30. Whilst at Portsmouth we found the time to visit HMS Victory and spent an hour learning about life on board an early 19th century man of war. During the winter months the sec­tion took delivery of a new double stacking bosun trailer. You can see it in the background of one of the accompanying photographs.At £1300 this is a sizeable invest­ment in the section by the MoD, and will make the transport of our boats to the sailing club and to away regattas so much easier.The summer term saw dinghy sail­ing introduced as a Wednesday activity in addition to the Thursday parade. A group of cadets was able to leave school at 3-30pm to

OuneCmian 2 0 0 7 -0 8 ............

go to Grassholme Reservoir for 2 hours of sailing. A number of Lower Fifth and shell cadets was able to take up this opportunity, and made full use of the excellent winds that can often be had at this time of the day. All the cadets eas­ily amassed the requisite hours sailing for their AB and NP badges.Jonathan Simpson, Philip Whit­field, and William Rutter went on to attend the Scottish Sailing course on the Firth of Forth that some ODs will remember well from their time in the section. It is with sadness though that I must report the sudden and unexpected death of Nick Prosser who ran the Scottish sailing courses for many years. It was Nick who taught me to sail and also guided many Dunelmians successfully through that course.Tom Newbould attended some ex­

citing courses during the (4 summer and his account of his adventures can

be read on the next page.

Combined CadetMay saw the cadets competing in the NE Area Regatta, and some fine sailing resulted in a win in the Bosun class for Tom Newbould and Campbell Wilson, with Sam Wilkes, John Weekes and Johnathan Simpson gained runner up trophies for the Topper class. Overall Sedbergh pipped us for the Area Trophy by just one point!

Force NAVY

One of the main bonuses of the Royal Navy CCF section in

Durham School is the range of courses on offer to all of its cadets. Recently I spent a week­end on HMS Bristol, a Type 82 Destroyer, permanently berthed at Whale Island, Portsmouth. The Ship remains in commission, has an RN Commanding Officer, but is primarily used for training pur­poses. Many courses take place on this ship.; I took part in the RN Leadership course.

The weekend started off with a pressured beginning with ‘snap talks’. Before any cadets got to know each other we all had to give a 5 minute speech on a word

that we had been given by one of the course instructors. Mine was ‘rainbow’, and although I had re­membered the verse ‘Richard of

In June the Shell and Lower Fifth Cadets accompanied by Miss Burnie spent their field day powerboating on the River Tees. The sections own Dory was used and our Chief, Sid Carr brought along a RIB with a 50hp engine to make things doubly exciting. After driving practice in the morning we

York ..., this somehow didn’t seem appropriate. Well what would you say? Throughout our speeches we were being evalu­ated for a report at the end of the weekend. Another activity we did was the PLTs (personal leadership tasks) in which each cadet had a chance to take the helm, and be the leader. PLTs varied from get­ting an oil drum across a pool of water, without getting wet, with only four ropes, to having to be the leader of the assault course run. During the weekend we were also taught how to take a march and give commands to a squadron.Another vary good course I did this summer was the Pilot and Ob-

laid out a course and held a com­petition to find the fastest helm, who would go on to represent the school at the regional final of the RYA/Honda RIB Challenge. Car­men Jang recorded the fastest time, but had a penalty for hitting a buoy so Jonathan Simpson won the contest.

server course at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose, Cornwall. This week long course consisted of vis­iting many of the squadrons at RNAS Culdrose air base. This in­cluded the Search and Rescue Sea King’s, the Anti-Submarine Warfare Merlin’s, the Pilot Training Jetstream’s and Fast Jet training Black Hawk’s. On the third day of the course we took to the air in the Jetstream, flying over the north and south coast of Cornwall, where we were able to take con­trol of the plane. Later in the week we went in the Sea King simulator, where we had a training lesson flying the helicopter, an amazing experience. At the end of the week we dined with pilots in the Navy and officers training to be pi­lots and observers, and heard about their experiences in the Navy.

Both of these courses were excel­lent learning experiences and bril­liant fun. I would advise anyone, whether they are interested in a career in the forces, or not, to find out more information about the courses on offer, from either my­self or Mr. Hewitt.

Tom Newbould.

DuneCmian 2007-08

Combined Cadet Force RAFR.A.F. News September 2007 - July 2008

The Durham school R.A.F. contingent has en­joyed another successful year. The cadets contributed to all areas of the training program and the expertise of our senior cadets has proved extremely useful in in­structing the younger cadets. Squadron Leader Curry has continued to lend his support to our endeavours and has been an invaluable resource to the section. The cadets competed against each other in various tasks throughout the year, including: command tasks, drill, navigation, radio communications, R.A.F. knowl­edge and flight simulator skills.

The section enjoyed three air experience fly­ing days this year, ensuring that all cadets were able to fly at least once, if not twice this year, a great im­provement on last year. On one of our visits to RAF Leeming we had the privileged to be shown around one of the RAF’s new typhoon fighters by its pilot.

In February, the section enjoyed a field-day at RAF Bulmer, where they made use of the out-door range allowing several to qualify for marksmanship badges. Various other field days within school allowed us to extend our training, culminating in a ‘tactical’ field week-end in June. I would like to thank everyone involved: cadets, parents and staff, with the section this year for all their support and I look forward to the challenges of the next year.

Pilot Officer D B Aitken RAFVR(T)

‘D uneim ian 2007-08 1

L

News from the Common RoomWe said goodbye to....

John Everatt

John Everatt joined the School in 19 7 1, well before most of the current staff had been born, and saw thirty

seven years of service before retiring last summer. With his degree in Classical Languages and Civilisation, a PGCE and an M.A in Ancient History from Durham University he was superbly qualified and was eventually promoted to head o f Classics in 1976. At the same time he took over as Master in charge of U16 cricket and then shared 1st XI duties with David Welch. There was more to John's CV. than academic achievement though .He had played regularly for Durham University's cricket team and had developed into a fiendishly accurate left arm spin bowler. In his later years, playing for the Staff team, he had the uncanny ability of placing his first ball of the season on a perfect length. Like

mostYorkshiremen he could talk knowledgeable cricket well into the night and would diversify with tales o f the glory days of past Sheffield United teams.In 1979 he became

Housemaster of Ferens House. That is now gone but in those days this was the House for years 7 and 8 or Lower and Upper removes. W hile in residence with his wife Chistine he found time to produce the first ever play to be performed in the new Luce Theatre, an adaptation of Solzhenitsyn’s "One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich". He also was able to ignore the predictable witticisms that this was based on his observations o f boys' experiences in the Senior Houses .... He then produced the first Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musical, “Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat” .In 1984 he took over from Paul Copeland as Housemaster of Poole House and ran it very successfully indeed until 1997. The boys soon found that John would stand no nonsense and it is well known that generations of

them benefitted from his firm, consistent and understanding approach. He would particularly enjoy the social occasions where some boys would test his wits and come off second best. .. .When he retired from the House in 1997 he was appointed Director of Studies and Deputy Head in charge of the Curriculum, a position he held until last summer. During this time the school would see significant changes taking place and John was a steadying, advisory hand in many difficult decisions that had to be made.It was fitting that at the end of his career John should return to one of is primary loves and he willingly took over the running of the U 14 cricket team.There were very many strings to John's bow and it is no small thing to spend thirty seven years o f your life teaching and advising young people and keeping a cheerful and open mind as he did. In his latter years he had to cope with a restricting illness which limited his leisure activities, a setback which he bore with quiet fortitude One of his passions had been fell walking, especially in the Lake District, and he had to cut back on this quite significantly. In his final year he had the wonderful opportunity of speaking at the O.D. dinner at the Carlton Club in London. There were many of his old pupils there and it was a delight to listen to his stories o f thirty seven years at Durham School. The port flowed freely...John is now relishing his retirement though and is able to take occasional visits to his beloved fells. The Common Room is missing his versatile take on life and his rugged good humour but he still manages the odd visit. Most of us are sure that if he ever came out of retirement the ball would somehow pitch on a perfect length...

John Burgess

After a career in teaching, o f which he spent the last twenty eight years at Durham School, Mr

John Burgess retired this summer. He cam e to Durham School from Oundle to take up his appointm ent as Head of Biology He made an imm ediate impact in that subject with the regular trips he ran, those to the island of

_«.***' IB

Skye being particularly valued by his sixth form biologists. Mr Burgess's wide ranging interests and knowledge added immensely to the experience enjoyed by participants. In particular his understanding o f the geology of the regions visited and his walking and climbing expertise were at the fore. We always knew when these trips were about to set off when we saw his blue Landrover heavily loaded in the quad.When he became Head of Science, taking over from M r Gedye, he m anaged the science teachers in the department effectively to ensure that consistently good results were achieved. Significant and regular curriculum reforms took place during the time Mr Burgess was Head of Department and he made well judged choices which he implemented effectively. Mr Burgess gave significant time, expertise and commitment to achieve all o f this for his pupils and he handed on a strong department to his successor, M r Jones. While at University an attachment to the Regular Army in Northern Ireland clearly proved significant and Mr Burgess joined the CCF when he started teaching. At Durham he took over as Contingent Commander from M ajor Lee. John's years of experience and his expertise soon led to his promotion to Lt Col.. He did not confine him self to running a successful contingent but took a local interest in cadets and TA and a national interest which led to him being chair of the CCFA representing cadet interests with the Regular Services. As Contingent Commander he encouraged both military interests and adventurous training. The school required the CCF to be compulsory; ensuring that

DuneCmian 2007-08

News from the Common Roombeing its Contingent Com mander was

always going to bring its challenges. John managed a training programme which achieved the fine balancing act needed and whose value has been recognised by former pupils now serving in the regular services as well as cadets who simply 'served their time'. In common with all members of staff, he was fully involved in the life of the school.School duties must be done, detentions supervised and tutor sessions run. All were completed reliably, along with the other demands of a boarding routine. The staff o f the School belongs to a staffcommon room which has committees to manage it. He was an active member serving on a number of significant committees in which his skills and experience were valued.Mr Burgess (JAB) moves on in his life to follow new interests outside of teaching but leaves behind in the minds of colleagues and pupils an understanding of service as well as recognition and appreciation of his skills as a schoolmaster, in the fullest sense of that term.

Bob G ibbon

Bob arrived at the School in 1990 as the new Head o f Com puter Studies. He had many years of

experience in State schools behind him and had been educated in Durham so he was easily able to transfer his skills and enthusiasm to his new position. His gentle but firm introduction to lessons; "settle down please ", earned him the nicknam e of "Cecil" (settle) and the pupils found that they had an approachable and highly skilled teacher who would go out of his way to give individual help, often in what little spare time he had. Bob also taught GCSE maths for a while.Despite being a robust Sunderland supporter. Bob never lost his sense of humour. Good natured M onday morning spats in the Common room with rival supporters of other teams always got the week off to a sparkling start . Years of gloom had left their mark however and when an extraordinary 3-1 win at Old Trafford was announced he couldn't help reverting to type, complaining that

even though they had won Sunderland were still not playing the correct (his) system.Outside o f the classroom Bob was involved in both squash an^l golf. He had little time for cricket, which he said used to send him to sleep, but he was a twelve handicap Golfer and enjoyed taking teams away to places like Sedbergh and Ampleforth. He was fam ous for his ability to adapt to any circum stance. W hen one o f the team fell ill on the way to St Bees, Bob persuaded the bus driver to play and gave him blitz instructions on how to hit a three iron. He also asked him to tuck his socks into his trousers and not count air shots . In his later years Bob was M aster in charge of Squash and he would regularly take teams to play in midweek and on Saturdays.In 1995 Bob took over as External Exam inations officer. This was a fiendishly difficult position as it involved complex juggling of tim ings for individual pupils taking A and GCSE levels . To those not in the know it is not just a m atter o f sitting

so many pupils down at so many desks. There are now scribes, extra time and‘readers’ which have to be available,

to say nothing o f resit arrangem ents. Somehow Bob managed to run things with the m axim um o f efficiency though his patience could be tested by late arrivals and absences.Bob was a tutor in Langley House until it was closed in 1997 and then he becam e a lower sixth tutor in School House until his retirem ent. In both houses he was imm ensely popular with the boys, who had by now rechristened him "Funky". He cam e into his own at social functions such as House Suppers and House barbecues. He and his wife Glynis would be surrounded by groups of boys who would be teased and entertained well into the night with

their special brand o f Geordie wit and understanding.Bob retired from full time teaching last sum m er and said he was looking forward to spending time with his grandchildren, working in his allotm ent and getting his handicap down. He added that he had also overcom e his antipathy towards Roy Keane as Sunderland were looking as if they might avoid relegation. He was even rum oured to be renewing a season ticket at The Stadium of Light. ...To the School's relief, Bob has not fully retired as he has agreed to remain as Exam inations Officer and he now comes into School on a part time basis. I know Bob would be em barrassed reading this but his presence in the School and particularly in the sanctuary of the Common room is really appreciated. Apparently he is relishing the time spent with his grandchildren, the allotm ent is flourishing and his handicap has gone up.

Caroline Snaith

Caroline joined the RS departm ent at Easter 2007 as a part time teacher. Already a practising solicitor she had just completed an MA in theological research from the university of Durham, and her wide range of academic and professional experience made her an excellent role model for the Yr 11 girls in M acLeod whom she tutored during 2007-8. W hilst here she successfully completed the Graduate Teaching Program m e from Sunderland University, and gained qualified teacher status. Her work with all years was much appreciated by pupils and staff alike, as was her willingness to contribute outside the classroom . She helped with tennis and netball coaching, and collaborated with Miss Burnie in g irls’ football as part o f the activities program m e. She also accom panied the choir on their Spanish tour during the summ er holiday.We wish Caroline every success and happiness as her teaching career develops.

‘Dunefmian 2007-0S •

News from the Common RoomRuth TaylorRuth joined Durham School in September 2006. It is instructive to note that she and 1 had many meetings

Caroline Snaith and Ruth Taylor

in the months beforehand as she was determined to be fully prepared; such attention to detail was a significant part o f her approach to teaching. Ruth taught both A Level Economics and Business Studies to a very high standard, many students have cause to be very grateful to her for her dedicated work. In addition to her endeavours in the classroom Ruth was a conscientious resident tutor in Pimlico House and ran a very successful Y.E. group. She also helped to support the running of both tennis and swimming sports fixtures. Ruth was a good colleague and we wish her well as she continues her career in Cambridge.Simon TweenSimon Tween joined the school as a newly qualified Art and Design Technology teacher in Septem ber 2004. On joining the departm ent he made an immediate impact, he brought

with him new ideas, including significant IT expertise in graphic design and image manipulation, things that he usedeffectively within his teaching to

help pupils achieve work of a professional quality. He was an effective and supportive m em ber o f the departmental teaching team who had boundless energy and gave a lot of his own time to support individual pupils with the development o f their project work. Simon was asked to take on pastoral responsibilities within his second year at Durham school and in 2005 he became Junior Housem aster in Caffinites, a position which he held

until his recent departure. Simon proved to be very popular in this role due to his fairness and good sense of humour. He was always fully involved in a wide range o f school related activities. It was with great sadness that we learnt that he had decided to move on and in the sum m er o f 2007 he gained a position as Head o f Design Technology at Farleigh School near Andover, Hampshire. Simon finally left Durham School at the end of the Christmas term 2007 where he was very much missed. We understand he is thoroughly enjoying his new role and that he has recently become engaged. We wish him the best of luck in every aspect o f his future teaching career.Sarah GibsonSarah joined the school in September 2005 as Housem istress of Pimlico House sharing duties with her husband M ike. She was also Director o f Drama and a teacher o f Theatre Studies.

Sarah started Theatre Studies as a new subject at the School, for the first two years under the auspices o f the English department and this last year as a stand alone department with herself as Head. Large numbers o f pupils were attracted at GCSE and A level with some very pleasing initial results. (The pupil perform ances by these examined groups have been of a very high standard and the June 2008 results were am ongst the best in the country). Special congratulations go to 3 pupils all of whom cam e in the top ten in the country in this year’s GCSE Drama exam ination (Edexcel). Scott Gimby, Michael Cuthbertson and Sam Arm strong, who all received letters of congratulation from the M anaging Director o f Edexcel, were in competition with over 60,000 other candidates. Congratulations also to all the many other candidates who did not necessarily score the highest grades but whose excellent performances represented a personal triumph for them. As the amount of curriculum dram a and the number of associated productions increased, Sarah stood

down as Director of Drama at the beginning of the academic year. Previous to this she had directed a number of extra curricular productions, including two School plays, a middle school play, a particularly outstanding production of “A M idsummer Night's Dream” and a junior school play written by herself.Mike Gibson.As well as his role as Housemaster running Pimlico with his wife Sarah. Mike also taught Media studies and English. He started the Media Studies as a new subject at the School, for the first two years under the auspices of the English Department and last year as a stand alone department with him self as head. As with Theatre Studies the subject attracted good numbers of sixth form pupils onto its AS and A2 courses. Mike also taught English at all levels within a successful department. Mike played a key role in the revamping o f Pimlico House and, like Sarah, placed great emphasis on pupils fulfilling their potential, especially academically, and his work as a year11 tutor was much appreciated.Mike was also an excellent contributor to the School's sports programme and took an active role in cricket coaching and , more particularly, in girls' hockey coaching. He was a highly rated hockey coach, not just in the context of Durham School but in the wider Hockey world.We would like to wish M ike and Sarah every best wish in their new careers.Common Room News Apart from the retirements reported separately, we also said a fond farewell and thank you at the end of this term to M rs Yvonne Saadi. Our thanks go also to PGCE students Amanda Telfer, Rebecca Howard and Alexandra Ace who have all given invaluable help during their brief time with us. Mr Michael Alderson has been appointed Housemaster o f School House from Septem ber 2008 when Dr Jenny Burns will take up her appointment as Housem istress o f Pimlico House to succeed M r and Mrs Gibson. Mr Kim Jones will take over as Head of Science. Mr Ben Mason will become Assistant Housemaster of School House. It has also been announced that M r Robert Duff will take over as Housemaster of Poole House when Mr and Mrs Bushnell complete their term of office in 2009.

‘Dunelm ian 2007-08 O

cyflenumj/cz(ianeyAs wc head towards Durham School’s 600th Anniversary, we commence what we hope will become a regular feature trying to put names to faces, and where possible, put former pupils back in touch with their counterparts.

We start the process in this edition with the picture immediately opposite of Canon Luce and the boys of School House, 65 years ago back in 1943.

The inspiration for this feature was John Naylor OD. John told me that his group o f counterparts had managed to meet up periodically, but that Adrian Officer who died recently had been the catalyst for these reunions.RAYNER John D esm ond

(H ans S igism und Rahm er) 30/5/24BRUTTON Philip Forsyth-Forrest 27/2/25RICHA RDS Julian 13/4/25PEARSON D esm ond L indon 26/6/25BELLIS Alfred Douglas MacDonald 8/8/25DIX ON W illiam M axwell 22/10/25FRENCH Thom as O liver 3/11/25TU R N B U LL John A lastair 2/2/26BRO W N E M ichael Alan 20/2/26G IBBS G eorge T revor 8/5/26BROW N A rthur G eoffrey 10/5/26TO D D A lastair Stew art 5/7 /26 DayNAYLOR John W atson 11/7/26STEPH EN SO N Ian Stobbs 21/7/26RICHA RDS C hristopher 23/7/26M ASSIE-TAYLOR Hugh 10/8/26C LIFFO RD Dudley Ronald 12/10/26LAING Peter Elston 7/12/26RICK IN SO N John Derek 7/1/27 D ayDREW Patrick A rnold 9/1/27M OORE John Frederick 17/1/27RO D W ELL Francis Ascough 11/4/27 DayJO NES Brian Trevor 11/6/27W ALKER A rthur Harrison 13/6/27 DayT H O M PSO N Foster 18/6/27W OOSTER Robert 23/7/27GIBBS G ordan Ian xx/8/27GREEN Peter Fothergill 4/8/27GILCHRIST-SHIRLAW D ouglas Watson 11/8/27RICHA RDS D erek N orw ood 5/10/27BRYSON D avid Robin 3/11/27M cKEAG W illiam Gordon x x /11/27HALL John Burton 10/11/27HANNA John C lindinning 15/11/27

This is a picture I found in the Archives, which I understand does include John on it ...somewhere.

Any O D ’s who can put names to faces, please contact me on 0191 3753271 or e-mail me atg.sim pson@ durham school.co.uk. We will show you the results in the next edition.

In order to jog some memories, here are the names and dates o f birth ( from the Register ) of School House boys from the relevant era :

K IRK U P Brian Scott 15/12/27FREU N D LIC H H ans Finlay 23/12/27KERR Peter John Spencer 23/1/28LEH M A N N M ichael Scott 26/1/28CO X Jam es 4/2/28HU G H ES Edw ard Dodd 1/3/28 DaySTON E Kenneth A rrow sm ith 1/3/28SM ITH SO N Thom as Alan 19/3/28LO D G E Derek L indsay 29/3/28TAYLOR R aym ond W allace 26/4/28FR EN C H David G lenw right 22/6/28FFO O K S E dw ard A rthur 26/8/28OLIV ER D enis Fothergill 8/9/28 DaySID G W ICK John Utrick 15/11/28G R EEN M ichael Tynedale 4/12/28W ILK IN SO N John Vivian 21/2/28 DayM U RRAY W illiam Churnside 7/1/29Y O U N G Hugh W illiam 15/1/29WALTON Peter 18/2/29W ICK H A M Peter G uy 19/2/29G IB B S Phillip John 20/2/29LATIM ER Harold Alan Benton 24/2/29DREW Tim othy D ouglas Ian 26/2/29G U R N EY A m os Stafford Phillips 26/6/29PICK ERIN G David Borland 27/2/29 DayPRATCHEK A lexander Scott 2/7/29 DayTH O M PSO N Kingsley G ordon 1/10/29M A RSH A LL Edw ard John K enneth 1/10/29PARKER John By well 25/1/30M cK EA G D onald C live 5/4/30W YNN John Edw ard xx/8/30 DayLISLE W illiam 10/10/30 DayA N TH O N ISZ D avid Frederick Beazley 15/11/30A D D ISO N Harold 5/12/30M O O RE R obert Edward xx/xx/xx

Does anyone out there have a copy of the Caffinites or Poole House photos from around the same time ? If you do, please get in touch. We could look to follow a sim ilar process with it next edition.

‘Dunelmian 2007-08

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IT fie “Friends o f Durham Scfiool

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B m /ju & tSATURDAY

6TH DECEMBER2008

“BIG SCHOOL" HALL 7.30 FOR 8.00 PM

‘A fea st o f lA ed ieva fT ayre an d ‘Entertainm ent

Costumes welcomed _ _Cover

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to fie/ Jiiejuls ap Shu/vkam/ ScJuuilW ho w e areParents o f pupils, fo rm e r pupils, staff and anyone w ho the Friends invite by reason o f o the r connections w ith the School

Computer-assisted machining equipment

What we areA separate registered charity, first established in 1938, whose purpose is “ to help advance the education of the pupils of Durham School and to promote the charitable purposes of, or associated with, the School.”

What we doWe organise, host and deliver events and functions to promote friendships and social interaction between members of the School Community and other guests. We raise money each year to promote the School, providing funds for specific items which will assist the education of the pupils and enhance their school New staging for the Luce Theatreexperience.

What we want you to doCome along and support our events. In doing so, you will meet new people, make new friends and hopefully have an enjoyable time.

Please understand that we are always happy to receive applications for I or 2 places at a function and we will do our utmost to seat you with other guests w ith whom you might have common interests.

Diary Date:Summer Ball - Saturday 4 July 2009

Details of this and other events will be made available nearer the time.

I look forward to seeing you at one of our events.

Chair of the Friends of Durham School

Sports conditioning room

7 tle A u UThe committee extend a special “Thank you” to Rev. JW Naylor (Head of School 1944) for his kind donation and continued support of The Friends.

T>une(mian 2007-08

Sponsor a New Prize

We currently have a couple of blank honours boards in Big School. If any parents or former pupils are inter­ested in sponsoring a new prize please contact Geoff Simpson on 0191 3753271

Harry PerkinsI first met Harry perkins in September 1961, when I was a very apprehensive first time boarder.new boy, in Dorm 4 of Poole House, and he, in his capacity o f House Tutor had come around to "inspect" the new intake. W hether it was because he picked up on my apprehension or what I do not know, but he sat on my bed end and chatted for about a quarter of an hour, I am unable to recall the contents of the conversation, but it did help to settle me down.During the 1960s there was the genesis of a "movement" of people who tried to increase awareness o f the environm ent- Harry was one o f these. He kept quoting Rachel Carson who had just written "Silent Spring". He was not a "tree hugger" but was fairly brutal in his attitude to extinction of species "without that there would have been no evolution". The pity is that only now - 40 years later - is the truth o f his "vision" being seen. Those years have been lost to the planet.His attitude to the environm ent led-him to take us out on "field trips", so that we could find out the truth of what he was saying for ourselves. In this regard he was a ground breaker.

Just before I went to Durham he had taken a party of Sixth formers to Barra in The Outer Hebrides. Castle Eden Dene and Cassop Vale were more local settings for study. He had such enthusiasm for his subject that it was not at all diffi­cult to be "infected" by him. He loved to be controversial and provocative, it was only the whimsical flicker o f a smile playing at the corners o f his mouth that gave him away.Apart from his teaching skills and environmental aware­ness he had a keen interest in Classical music (Brahms - via his beloved "Quad" speakers) and Architecture, this lat­ter, when combined with his abilities as a very keen pho­tographer, gave us an excellent way to "encourage" him to reduce our Friday morning "Triple Biology" lesson to something more manageable by asking if he had been any­where interesting recently - funny how the slides were always to hand!

by Dr. AG M Johnson who "gifted the £1500 which sup­ports “The Johnson Perkins P rize” which is given each year for Fieldwork in Biology in the Removes

Thank you from a form er pupil

Rachel Brown OD sends a big “Thank you” to Durham School for its hospitality in accom modating the National Childbirth Trust ( NCT ) Durham B ranch’s biannual Nearly New Sales in Big School Hall. The two events held during2008 have raised record proceeds for the Charity o f £ 3,326 and £3,831 respectively.

The events, which now attracts around 300 people, needed to find a new home, having out-grown their previous venue and Durham School “very kindly allowed us to use Big School and its adjoining rooms” and “donated refreshm ents and yummy scones for us to sell !”

Rachel, who you might rem em ber as Rachel Arthur has married fellow OD Simon Brown. “Simon and 1 never thought for one moment, whilst having our meals in Big School that we a) would one day be married to each other, and b) would be back with our own little family, running such an event from School . ... Wonders will never cease !!”

Anyone interested, as a buyer, a seller, or just wanting to meet other parents in the Durham area, should contact Rachel on rachelbrown73@ btinternet.com

Supporting you to become the parent you want to be

• • •

n e t

‘DutieCmian 2007-08

OLD DUNELMIAN SOCIETYFrom the President o f the Old Diinelniiiin Society

Welcome to the Old Dunelmian section o f the Dunelmian. As you will all be aware the membership

of the OD Society is made up o f for­mer pupils of Durham School together

j with a num ber o f others who have j played a significant part in the life of | the School and the Society. The Soci­

ety has existed for over 100 years and | [ its aims are to enable ODs to keep in

touch with the School and with each other, as supported by Canon Bud- worth when the Society was reformed in 1907. The School and the Society are therefore indissolubly linked, al­though they are and will remain two

j distinct organisations, j Since last year’s Dunelmian was pub­

lished I am pleased to report that there has been a renaissance in the relation­ship with the School. 1 am delighted to confirm that we are maintaining regular contact with the senior man­agement team and governors with a common aim of making the Society

| better able to serve its membership and j fulfil its aim o f keeping ODs in touch

with each other and the School.

I The Society’s Centenary Dinner was held at the end o f 2007 at Newcastle Falcons Rugby Club in Newcastle in September. This was hosted jointly by the Society and the Durham School Scholarship Fund, whose aim is to 'Advance education by providing up to three children every academic year with a sports scholarship in particular but not exclusively for rugby at

| Durham School’. The evening was a resounding success and was enjoyed by all who attended as well as raising funds for a very worthwhile cause.

The 2008 Annual Reunion Dinner held back at the School in Septem ber was a fitting end to the Centenary Year by re­turning to the School and was also a great success. The Society’s AGM was also held on this date (minutes avail­able on request).

We are already planning the 2009 Re­union. The date is now confirmed as

12th Septem ber 2009 (before the start of the University Academic Year) and the School will play Barnard Castle on the Playground in the afternoon. The costs o f the Annual Reunion will be limited to administration costs and we are indebted to the School for their generosity in hosting this, and future such dinners at the School, on a nil cost basis. Full details will appear on the OD website atwww.olddunelmian.com and will be sent by email to all ODs for whom we have contact details. I look forward to welcoming a large num ber of ODs to the Annual Reunion and other OD events during 2009.

On behalf o f the Society I, together with other members o f the ‘Durham School fam ily’, attended the Dinner held as part o f the selection process for choosing the new Headm aster and met all three candidates and their wives.

The Society is delighted that the G ov­ernors have appointed Martin George OD as Headmaster. I am meeting reg­ularly with Martin and together we will build upon the existing firm foun­dations to make the relationship be­tween the Society and the School even stronger.

The Society and School are working closely together to ensure that we have a regular flow o f information sent to ODs. The quickest and most cost ef­fective means of comm unicating with ODs is via the website and by email.To this end (being well aware that email addresses change even more reg­ularly than postal addresses), please keep the Society advised o f any changes to your contact details. These should be sent to me as Hon Registrar and we will ensure you are kept up to date with both OD News and also School News. This can also be done by registering for the School e- newsletter by logging on to w w w.durham school.co.uk, following which the School will advise the Soci­ety so that the database is kept up to date.

Finally, as the Dunelmian should be

Floreat Dunelmia!

Rod Hepple-W ilson

A message from Martin George (Headmaster from 1st April 2009)

As many o f you will be aware, Neil Kern retired as Headm aster during the summ er and at present Derek Best is Acting Headm aster until I arrive in April 2009. The School is fortunate indeed to have Derek at the helm and it gives me great confidence to know that he will still be there to give me guid­ance and advice when I arrive. Having said that, what you will probably not know is that I am spending a consider­able amount o f time in Durham, for meetings, events, Open M ornings and also just to get to know people. So 1 do feel I am getting a real feel for the School, its staff, pupils and parents.

There is o f course one relationship which will be of particular concern to you, and that is the relationship be­tween the School and the ODs. I have said on many occasions that Durham School is an extended family, in which the OD Society plays a crucial role. In 2014 we will be celebrating the School’s 600th anniversary! That is something o f which we should be enormously proud and the ODs are the living legacy of that history, so I shall be working hard to develop and en­courage a really close and mutually beneficial relationship.

I would urge all ODs to keep in touch with the School, making sure that your contact details are up to date and that we find out what you are up to - we really do take great pride in the achievements o f all ODs.

with you before the festive season may I take this opportunity o f wishing all ODs a very Merry Christm as, a prosperous2009 despite the economic challenges, and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at OD events during the year.

‘Dunelm ian 2007-08

When you can, we would love to see you at reunions - whether at School, in London, Yorkshire. Newcastle or wherever. If there are things you can offer to the School please get in touch, as it would be great to be able to get our current pupils to meet ODs, whether at social events, through work experience or by way of careers advice lectures. Feel free to attend any sports fixture - someone will always be there to make you feel at home. And, of course, if you are at the stage o f plan­ning your own children’s education do come along and talk to us. We were delighted to be able to confirm, at the recent OD dinner, a new OD discount of 10% to new starters in September2009 (I should point out that I have excluded m yself from that discount).

This is an exciting time for Durham School; there are tremendous opportu­nities on the horizon. As an OD I have always been conscious o f the skills, knowledge and confidence which I gained at School and it is my intention to ensure that future ODs benefit from the same opportunities. But above all I am committed to the continuity in the School's history which comes from a close and dynamic relationship with the OD Society. I look forward to meeting old friends and new faces at many OD events in the future.

Very best wishes to you all,

Martin George

OD Society contact details

General enquiries should be directed to:Nick Gedye (Hon. Assistant General Secretary), Durham School, Durham, DH1 4SZTel 0191 386 4783 (office), 0191 386 9360 (home). Fax 0191 383 1025 Emailnickgedye@ sydney house .freeserve .co. uk

Contributions for The Dunelmian can also be sent to Ian Smith (OD Section Editor) using the contact details in the directory at the end of the OD section. We can accept contributions in any form at, but electronic versions (e.g. Word docum ents, via email or disk) are preferred for text. Photographs are also very welcome! Subm issions for the 2008-9 Dunelm ian need to be re­ceived by the end o f July 2009 or we can’t guarantee that they will be in­cluded.

A directory of comm ittee members can be found at the end o f this section.

For reports o f recent activities of the Society and for details o f forthcoming events please visit the Society’s web­site at www.olddunelm ian.com .

Durham School Register

The Register consists o f five printed editions, 1907-1991 (and an important supplement dated 1950, which is too often neglected) and a com puter data­base o f over 6000 names. The early editions list all Dunelm ians from 1840 to the date of printing, along with many names from earlier years, arranged alphabetically. The database covers Dunelm ians who entered the School during or after 1907, when Canon Budworth was appointed Head­master. A ltogether these make up an invaluable historical resource, and we can access biographical details for any OD very quickly. Enquiries are always welcome. Copies o f the 5th edition are still available - no longer strictly “for

sale” as the account has been closed, but in return for a small donation to society funds.

London Dinner

The London OD Dinner is held on the first Friday o f February every year and is open to all ODs. The next Dinner is on Friday 6th February 2009. For further details about the London OD Dinner, please see the OD website, www.olddunelm ian.com , or contact the London Reunion Secretary, Ritchie Salkeld.

Yorkshire Dinner

The 2009 Yorkshire Dinner will be held on Tuesday 3 1 st March 2009 at the Crown Hotel, Boroughbridge. Regular attendees will receive a mail­ing directly and further details on the Yorkshire Dinner are available from Kit Hobson, Yorkshire Reunion Secre­tary.

Northern LuncheonThe Northern Lunch is held on the last Friday in Novem ber annually and the next lunch will be held on 30th No­vem ber 2009. Regular attendees will receive a mailing directly and further details are available from Godfrey Hedley, the Northern Reunion Secre­tary.

Be a proud OD!

We have a stock of OD ties (m anufac­tured in silk from T M Lewin of Jermyn Street), silk bow ties (self-tie) and cufflinks in the traditional design. These are priced at £23 per item (plus postage and packing as appropriate) and are available to order from Nick Gedye, the Hon Assistant General Sec­retary.

‘Dunelmian 2007-08

DsOD News and Letters

A feature in the “Body and Soul” supplement o f The Times on 1 st

5 December 2007 highlighted ; Alexander Armstrong (1983-88) and I his views on “fatherhood, fitness and

stage fright” .

We were contacted by Peter Brook (1972-76) to let us know that he’d had

| a significant degree of success by appearing on "W ho Wants To Be A M illionaire?” in May and June 2007. Peter m anaged to get into THE chair and won a very respectable £64,000 - no mean feat, as Peter observes that it’s getting more and more difficult these days!

Congratulations to Peter Dobson (1979-84) and his wife Lu, on the birth of their son Nicholas Mack Dobson in Kuala Lumpur on 20th January 2008. Proud uncle Simon Dobson (1977-82) informed us of the news, and

I suggested that young Nicholas may j even become a Dunelmian one day -

who knows?

Dan Ford (1995-2000) has contacted us once again with further news o f his father G eoff Ford (1957-62), who has been awarded an MBE in the 2008 New Year Honours list for his services to business in the North East.

Geoff Ford MBE with his wife Marilyn and sons Dan (1995-2000), left, and Chris

(1998-2003), Buckingham Palace, 28th

February 2008

As reported in the last Dunelmian, G eoff’s tireless work supporting business and enterprise in and around South Tyneside led to him receiving a

Q ueen’s Award for Enterprise Prom otion, and this latest honour is further recognition of his passion and comm itm ent. He received his award from HRH Prince Charles at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on 28th February 2008.

Dan has also provided us with a quick update of his own. He graduated from LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) in 2007 and he’s currently working in the West End, in the play “Fat Pig” by Neil LaBute, along with Robert Webb (“Peep Show” ), Kris Marshall (“My Fam ily” and the BT ads), Joanna Page (“Gavin and Stacey”) and Kelly Brook.

W e’ve heard from Doug Foster ( 1969-74) to let us know that he’s being doing some “OD-spotting” during an episode o f "The Sky at Night” in November 2007, where one of Patrick M oore's guests was Derek W ard-Thom pson (1975-80) - one of four occasions on which he has appeared on the programme. Derek is currently a Professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at Cardiff University. At the time o f going to print, the programme (entitled “The Grand Collision”) can still be accessed by clicking the archive link o f the Sky at Night page on the BBC website (www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/skyatni ght).

Sim on Frazer (1950-55) tells us that Joe Gatenby (1950-55) has written and published a novel entitled Desert Apprentice, which is set in the Canal Zone at the time of the Suez crisis. Simon recom mends it, especially to readers who, like Joe, served in the Middle East at around that time.

Congratulations to Kit Hobson (1938- 42) on being awarded an MBE in the Q ueen’s Birthday honours list, for services to the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Doug Foster also provided some news of Tim Jefferson (1971-75) who is enjoying a successful career as a professional musician, teacher and composer. He played with the BBC Radio Midland Orchestra at Pebble Mill and other professional orchestras before em barking on a solo career that has taken him all over the world playing guitar, mandolin, keyboard and bagpipes. Tim has recently released a CD of his own music called “Set Your Sail" which is available to purchase via the website www.a2znorfolk.com/tim jefferson/.

Matthew M ilner (1979-84) is now living in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he works as a foreign exchange trader. H e’s also helping his wife to set up a business in the property sector - all a long way from his time in the Army, he says, although he’s still trying to keep fit and manages to find the time to spend a couple of hours in the gym each day!

Colin Saxton (1960-65) got in touch to let us know that his son Jamie Saxton ( 1994-99) competed in the 23rd Marathon des Sables ( ‘Marathon of the Sands') during March and April of 2008. The event is run over six stages, over a total distance of 156 miles (equivalent to 514 regular marathons), with the longest single stage being a double marathon (52 miles). The event is held each year in the desert of southern Morocco, and competitors must carry all personal belongings and food for the entire event in their backpacks. Not surprisingly, it’s considered by many to be the toughest foot race on Earth - so many congratulations to Jamie for finishing in an excellent 64th place (out of more than 850 competitors who started the event) and in fourth place amongst competitors from Great Britain. Congratulations too to another OD, M ark Armstrong (1989-94), who also competed in and finished the event.

‘D unelm ian 2007-08

Major. She’s currently serving with the NATO Training Mission in Bagh­dad in a language training and devel­opment advisory role to the Iraqi Armed Forces. She’s also sent us two photographs - one taken under the Crossed Swords M onument in Bagh­dad, and the second inside an ar­moured vehicle.

Nigel Young (1980-85) has been spending a fair am ount of time in Sudan recently and visited the Na­tional Museum in Khartoum. He was

Caroline Taylor (1992-94) has con­tacted us with an update. Following her MA in Middle East Politics in 1998, she joined RMA Sandhurst in

| 1999 and was then comm issioned into the Educational and Training Services Branch in 2000. She has served in Germany, Northern Ireland and Kosovo before specialising in lan­guages, mainly Arabic. She acted as an interpreter in Basra in 2004 (quite tricky, she says) and is enjoying her second tour o f Iraq, and her first as a

surprised and delighted to find a Durham School connection in the form of a plaque in memory of Graham Campbell Kerr - whose name will be known to most pupils and ODs through the Kerr Arch in the Quad.For those who aren’t fam iliar with the connection, Nick Gedye has provided

the following note:The Kerr Arch was dedicated on Speech Day, 30th June 1927, and com­memorates Graham Campbell Kerr (born 1872). He attended Durham School (Bungites) and was a School Monitor. He was Captain o f Boats in 1889-90, and stroked the first crew to the W harton ( 1889) and the Grand (1890) at Durham Regatta. He also played for the 1st XV from 1887 to 1889 and was Captain of Rugby in 1889.At Trinity College Cambridge, he earned a string of rowing honours in­cluding rowing in the Cambridge Uni­versity eight in 1892 and 1893, and was President o f Cambridge Univer­sity Boat Club in 1893.He played Rugby for Durham County from 1895 to 1900 and for Scotland from 1898 to 1900.Kerr was an assistant master at Durham School from 1895 to 1901, and then joined the Sudan Civil Serv­ice. The Sudan was at that time gov­erned jointly by Egypt and Great Britain. He became Governor of the Red Sea Province in 1909 and was ap­pointed the first civilian Governor of the Sudan in 1912.He returned to Scotland in 1913 for an operation in Edinburgh and died shortly afterwards aged only 41.

(This photo and accompanying text appeared in The Times on 14th November 2008, reproduced with kind permission)

'Dunelmian 2007-08 .................... ..... — ................. ...................... ...............

Rugby Football on a dark Durham winter's day

Snow and bitter cold made handling and running difficult for both sides in this match between Durham School and Giggleswick in early Decem ­ber 1937. The home side (hooped shirts) won 8-0; the match is seen here against the backdrop of the main school buildings and hall ("Big School"). Beyond the treeline lie the steep banks of the River Wear.

© T he Times 2008.

O ld D unelm ian L odge N o 8100

Freemasonry is one o f the world's old­est secular societies, being a fraternity of men who wish to conduct them ­selves according to certain principles founded on the basis o f religious truth and virtue.

Freemasonry is neither a religion nor a substitute for religion, with neither re­ligion nor politics to be discussed at its meetings. Freemasonry demands from its members a respect for the law and the use of membership to promote his own or anyone else's business, profes­sional or personal interests is con­demned. Freemasonry is also not a secret society, since all members are free to acknowledge their membership and there is no secret about any o f its aims and principles but, in common with many other groups and societies, it regards some of its internal affairs as private matters for its members. Freemasons follow three principles:

Brotherly Love (a tolerance and re­spect for others), Relief (the practice of Charity including for the com m u­nity as a whole by charitable giving and voluntary effort) and Truth (which requires striving for and adhering to high moral standards).

Although members contribute to M a­sonic charities for those Masons less fortunate than themselves, many sub­stantial non-Masonic grants are made, e.g. following the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami the Grand Charity made a contribution o f £200,000 towards the cost o f constructing the Ruhunu Vi- jayabha School in Sri Lanka which will provide high quality education for 3,000 primary and secondary pupils with priority given to those families and children affected by the Tsunami.

(John L Webster, Assistant Provincial Grand Master (Province o f Durham), Poole 1960-64)

The Old Dunelmian Lodge was founded in 1966 by ODs and the membership o f the Lodge (and the Old Dunelmian Royal Arch Chapter, which

was founded some years later) is open to former pupils, staff and relatives of present and form er pupils o f Durham School. Relatives are defined as fa­thers/guardians, sons and brothers of Dunelmians. Meetings are held in Freemasons Hall, Old Elvet, Durham on the second Friday in January, April, July, Septem ber and Decem ber and the third Friday in May.

The M aster this year, Joseph W Gatenby (1947-1953) led the Lodge in a very good year which included an evening in which some o f the Sixth Form were entertained in a meeting explaining Freemasonry, followed by a dinner. This is the second time that this biennial event has been held. The Lodge also entertained M r & Mrs Kern at a dinner to mark their retire­ment and presented them with an as­tronomical telescope.

The Annual Lodge Service was held in School Chapel, by kind perm ission of the Headmaster, on 30th March. It was conducted by Rev. J R M arsden (staff 1948-1985) assisted by E J Robinson (1956-1959). G W Hedley (1963- 1968) played the organ. A well at­tended luncheon was enjoyed by a large proportion o f the congregation in Big School after the service.

P A L Hopper (father o f P A Hopper, Poole 2000-02) was installed as M as­ter in July at a meeting held in The Luce Theatre, and at the dinner in Big School following the meeting it was announced that John L W ebster (1960- 64) is to be installed as an Assistant Provincial Grand M aster for the Province o f Durham. He joins Ken­neth E C Howe in this rank which is held by only five M asons at any time.J F Liddle (1955-61) was promoted in Provincial Grand Lodge in December to Past Provincial Grand Sword Bearer, and in June G R Rutter (1975- 78) was appointed to Past Provincial Assistant Grand Director of Cere­monies.

It was with great regret that in July the Lodge learned o f the death of Brian El- strop (1946-49). Brian was a founder

member o f the Lodge and had served in many offices including as Master and as Secretary. Brian was highly re­spected in Freemasonry, having been appointed to Grand Rank in both Grand Lodge and Supreme Grand Chapter and was Provincial Grand Prior in the Knights Templar Order of Freemasonry from 1995 until April this year. His wise counsel and friendship will be greatly missed at our future meetings. The Lodge extends its sym­pathy to all his family and his many friends.

During the year Trevor Lightburn be­came the first parent to be initiated into the Lodge and we look forward to many more fathers and close relatives o f Dunelmians following in his foot­steps.

On behalf o f the Lodge I would like to thank the Derek Best, Acting Head­master, and all the staff including Geoff Simpson, Colin Looker, and the catering team for their help and caring attention at our functions during the year.

All enquiries relating to Old Dunelmian Lodge or for membership should be directed to: - John F Liddle, (Secretary), Kyoburn House, Harper- ley, Stanley, Co Durham DH9 9TY. Tel. 01207 234 415, e-mail j.f.liddle@ btinternet.com

O ld D u n elm ia n H oly R oyal A rch C h a p ter N o 8100

The Old Dunelmian Royal Arch Chapter meets at Freem asons' Hall. Old Elvet Durham on the fourth Fri­day in February and on the third Fri­day in June and is always well-attended.

The installation is held at the Febru­ary meeting and this year EComp John Bernard Portwood (School, 1974-79) becam e First Principal with EComp Eric Robinson (School, 1956- 59) as Second Principle and EComp Michael J Liddle (Langley, 1990- 1995) as Third Principal.

‘Dunelm ian 2007-08

ODs ODsStephen C Robinson (Langley, 1973-77) was honoured by in the Provincial Grand Chapter of Durham by his ap­pointment to Provincial Grand Rank as Past Provincial Assistant Grand So­journer.

During the year, David Mark Jordan became a member at the meeting on 2nd June 2008.

Membership of the OD Chapter is open to former pupils of Durham School, staff o f Durham School and relatives of current or former pupils of Durham School.

All enquiries relating to the Old Dunelmian Chapter should be directed to Stephen C Robinson, Scribe E (Sec­retary) at 39 W indermere, Smithfield, Darlington DL1 1AA.Tel 01325 282240,email steviemacham@ hotmail.co.uk

O D S o ciety D irectory

President:Rod Hepple-W ilson, The Cobbles, Renton Close, Bishop M onkton, Harrogate HG3 3UB Tel 01765 676225 Email rod@ hepple-wilson.co.uk

Hon. General Secretary:Hugh Dias, Durham School,Durham D H 1 4SZTel 0191 3718770 (home);Email dias@ dunmaps.demon.co.uk

Hon Assistant General Secretary:Nick Gedye (Hon. Assistant General Secretary)Durham School, Durham, DH1 4SZ Tel (office) 0191 386 4783,Fax 0191 383 1025Tel (home) 0191 386 9360Emailnickgedye@sydneyhouse.freeserve.co.uk

Annual Reunion Secretary:Peter Smith. Sidegate House, Side- gate, Durham DH1 5SY Tel 0191 375 7000 (work);0191 386 8081 (home)Email petersmith@ janotas.com

Hon Treasurer:Michael Watts, Raven Gill, Parkhead, Rcnwick, Cum bria C A 10 1JQ Tel 01768 898688

Hon Registrar (i/c website and elec­tronic communications):Rod Hepple-W ilson (contact details as above)

London Reunion Secretary:Ritchie Salkeld, Faythorpe, Valewood Lane, Bams Green, Horsham, West Sussex RH13 OQJ Phone: 01403 783300 Fax: 01403 780378 Email: rs@ rscollp.co.uk

Northern Reunion Secretary:Godfrey Hedley, 5 Fleetham Close, Chester-le-Street,Co Durham DH2 3SX Tel 0191 388 1999

Yorkshire Reunion Secretary:Kit Hobson, 3 Hengate, Beverley,East Yorkshire HU17 8BLTel 0 1482 882543, Fax 01482 887343

Dunelmian OD Section Editor:Ian Sm ith, Hillside House,Neville’s Cross Bank,Durham DH I 4JP Tel 0191 375 7884 Email ian@ lwtc.com

Register Editor:Nick Gedye(contact details as above)

Archive:John M alden, 5 Greenlaw Avenue, Paisley,Renfrewshire PA1 3RBTel 0141 889 4302Email john@ paxtonhouse.com

Assistant Archivist:Mrs Valenda Taylor. Sandside House, Neville's Cross Bank,Durham DH 1 4JFTel 0191 384 6982Email vt@ sandside.fslife.co.uk

OBITUARIES

G M J Courtney Poole House (1993-1998)

On Saturday 24th February a Service o f Thanksgiving was held in the Chapel for Matthew Courtney who had died in London the 9th of February in tragic circumstances.

M atthew was a young man of enormous promise with so many achievements behind him and so much to look forward to. He left the School in 1998 and many of the staff who taught him rem em ber him with great affection.

Matthew joined the School as K ing’s Scholar and a Music Scholar from The

Chorister School where he was Head Boy.Throughout his time at Durham School he set standards of

excellence in a variety o f fields. He was a model pupil, studying French, Germ an, Latin and English at A-level, at a time when only the brightest pupils took on the challenge of four A- levels. In a world o f “givers “ and “takers” Matthew was every inch a giver. He was an outstandingly talented musician (both singer and instrumentalist) and a member of The National Youth Choir. He was a talented actor and took major roles in many memorable School productions and he also loved his sport and represented the School at rugby.

Described by the university in their offer letter as “ in all respects an outstanding candidate” , Matthew deservedly won a place at Christ Church, Oxford University, to read Law and at the time o f his premature death he had em barked on a promising career with one o f London's top Law firm s, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

The service was attended by his parents George and M argaret, many of

‘Dunelmian 2007-0&

ODsM atthew 's school contem poraries, colleagues from his Law firm and staff and pupils from the School. The reverend Tim Fernyhough, previous Chaplain to the School, came up from Radley College to conduct the Service with Anna de Lange, and moving tributes from Michael Fulton, Diccon Humphrey, and Robert English, three of M atthew’s school friends, were given.

At the end o f term service in July there was a dedication of new chancel furni­ture, hymn boards lecterns, and stall hangings generously donated by Matthew's parents in his memory. George and Margaret thanked the School and all the many people who helped at the time of M atthew’s death for their great kindness

The School sends its sincere sympathy to George and Margaret in their tragic loss and will rem ember them and Matthew in their prayers.

LA Officer (1940-46)Edited from submissions by Derek Baty ( 1945-51) and the Revd Robert Chavner

Born in Barrow-on-Humber, Lincolnshire, in 1928, Leonard Adrian Officer was the only child of Leonard Sydney Officer, a Clerk in Holy Orders, and Gladys Eleanor Turner. He was educated at St H ugh’s Preparatory School and came to Durham School in 1940. His time at Durham culminated in his appointment as “a more than usually civilised” Head o f School; and in the sporting arena he was a fine gymnast and stroked the School’s First Crew at the first post-war Durham Regatta.

On leaving Durham, Adrian went on to obtain his teacher’s ARCM after National Service, later graduating BMus MA from Cambridge University. He taught in Gram mar Schools for twelve years, in M atlock, Southwell and York, followed by 18 years at the

former Marine and Technical College in South Shields (now South Tyneside College).

During his 30 years as a teacher, several of his students went on to become distinguished musicians and teachers. Bernard Jewry (aka the pop star Alvin Stardust) recalls, "then 1 went to Southwell M inster Collegiate Gram mar School as a boarder... which brings me to Mr Officer, the music teacher. His attitude to music seemed to be, if you didn 't enjoy it, then something’s wrong. He would stop half way through some classical music lesson if he felt that we were losing interest and bring out a jazz album and play it; then he’d get us to talk about it. M r Officer was the one who deepened my interest in music and made it more understandable.”

Dr John Bannister writes, “Adrian’s time at Southwell in the 50s was an exciting period of innovation and development. He came first as a student teacher when I was a junior chorister and left just one year before me so was the prime musical influence in my school life. The county music organisation was in its infancy, just developing peripatetic instrumental teaching. Adrian took full advantage of all the opportunities and soon had a school orchestra of which we could be proud. Though the Minster School was so small, he succeeded in mounting impressive concerts. M ost notable perhaps was the performance of Britten’s “St Nicolas” in 1956 for which he persuaded Benjamin Britten him self to conduct and Peter Pears to sing! He devoted his whole life to his work, and being a Housemaster was able to develop his pupils’ knowledge and skill in evening sessions of listening and piano tuition. A good many of us who benefited from his diligence became professional musicians or teachers. An example of his wise encouragement was that he soon recommended for me a change from violin to viola and when this bore fruit he was instrumental in my gaining a place in the National Youth Orchestra.

Such experience and the contacts made helped shape my own work in music education for the rest of my life.”

Dr Michael Mullen writes, “I was a keyboard pupil of Adrian’s for five years (1974-78) before going on to study music at Bristol University. On a musical level and beyond, Adrian’s personality, knowledge and abilities were an enormous inspiration for a young musician growing up in the North-East o f the 1970s. He encouraged and instilled a level of discipline and enquiry in his pupils, which not only made the goal of achieving university entrance level attainable but would continue to form the basis of meaningful choices throughout their lives.”

The Revd Robert Chavner writes, “After leaving school, I had always assumed I would remain working within the Civil Service and in the North-East, and had no sense that I might actually be able to do something different. But with Adrian’s encouragement, I was able to broaden my horizons. He taught me piano (1977-81) and thought I should train as a teacher and so he prepared me for entry to the Newcastle School of Music. W hilst there, someone heard me sing and thought I should be a singer! So if I was to be a singer, Adrian reminded me, then I needed to go somewhere ‘that singers went' and so I set my heart on going to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. This was my springboard into the world of music and a singing career which has spanned nearly three decades and two continents. It might very well not have happened without Adrian’s encouragement.”

During his time in South Shields, he was director of the Gilbert and Sullivan Operatic Society and the Georgina Singers. As a chamber musician he played the bassoon and had a profound interest in post-war English composers. He published “Who was Ernest Farrar? 1885-1918” - Farrar was an English musician and composer, killed in battle

Dunefm ian 2007-08

in the First World War, and nowadays perhaps best known as the teacher of Gerald Finzi.

In 1979 he moved to NorthumberlandI and, following early retirement lived in W hittingham for the rem ainder of his life. He was actively involved with a number of musical

j organizations including the Alnwick Music Society and the Morpeth District Arts Trust. He opened his home several times a year to host musical evenings featuring past and

j present students. As a professional musician and teacher, his judgem ents were always clear and insightful. He abhorred lifeless ‘correct" playing and championed musicians who combined musicality with soloistic flair. He always enjoyed talking to musicians and gave constructive criticism with tact and candour.

Adrian, however, was also a very pri­vate person: the pictures on his walls and the holidays he took to the Antarc­tic, to Russia and to the Orkneys amply demonstrated his love of de­serted, unending spaces. His sensitive and perhaps even austere personality tended to conceal the strength o f his feelings about what he cared the most. His lack o f sentimentality may have concealed how much he valued his many friends, but there is no doubt how much his friends valued him. Adrian loved his travel, his Northum ­berland and good company. During his latter years, he suffered a number of strokes which impaired and frus­trated his playing; but his daily rou­tines continued largely unaltered, and he was entertaining friends to with a few days o f his death.

Adrian Officer, BMus, MA (Cantab), ARCM died on 22nd June 2008 aged 80, and his funeral service was held in his beloved Old Bewick Church. His clear direction had been that there should be no tributes and no address at the service. Like many things with Adrian, it d idn’t need saying. You could see it for yourself.He was laid to rest in the churchyard o f the church where he had been Or­ganist for many years. His wit and benevolent spirit will remain an inspi­ration to those who knew' him.

F W iddas (Hon OD)

We were sorry to learn of the death in October 2008 o f Frank Widdas, who was Bursar from 1976 until 1987. We hope to include a full obituary in the next issue of The Dunelmian.

Requiescant in Pace ^DS Alder C 195H4&' v | x ^ 2 0 0 8 aged 63J O Allen PH 1938-42 . g J O f 2008 aged 84E l Brown PH X aged 86P R Brown C 3 September 2007 aged 76S Brown IM j 13 September 2008 aged 52C C G Deer 1 April 2008 aged 69B Elstrop - M - ^ p u j y f 0 0 8 aged 75L F Gullachsen 922-24 August 2008 aged 99E D Hare SH 1950-53 1 June 2007 aged 70Canon D Hodgson Hon OD November 2007 aged 76DM Lindsay C jT S januaiy 2005 aged 71N JB Lodge S H ^ g & p ^ f ^ ^ jT M to b e r 2007 aged48Dr J L Marshall Hon O I ^ ^ W h . November 2008 aged 76

(past Chairman of Governors)JF Moore SH 1942-44 ^ 15 Feb 2008 aged 81LA Officer PH 1940-46 22 June 2008 aged 80CHPerrott PH 1943-47 2006 aged 77Lt Col A Walton C 1922-24 23 June 2007 aged 98F Widdas Hon OD (Bursar 1976-87) 6 October 2008

[SliW- ‘Dunefmian 2007-08

The Cystic Fibrosis Everest Marathon TeamInvite you to a celebratory evening with

Bill Brysonacclaimed author and

Chancellor of Durham UniversityMain sponsor

on the evening ofWednesday 4th March 2009

In "Big School" great hall of Durham SchoolA prestigious evening of entertainment in support of a great cause, with Graeme Danby the North East's most charismatic opera singer,

Jamie Squire and his band "Live Wire"

Black TieTickets and information from Suzanne Cronin 0191 373 6132 07734 983 500 Suzanne@cronin.org.uk

“Godspell” 2008, produced by Neil Kern

This year we said goodbye to four long-serving members of staff: Headmaster Neil Kern, John Everatt, John Burgess and Bob Gibbon

If undelivered please return to: Durham School, Durham City, DH1 4SZ

THE DUNELMIAN 2007-2008

Tel: 0191 386 4783 Email: enquiries@durhamschool.co.uk

www.durhamschool.co.ukRegistered Charity No. 1023407