Accent
Accent
Number Thirteen • October 2003
LANGUAGE
COLLEGES
on Ashcombe
THE ASHCOMBE SCHOOL • DORKING
OUTSTANDING RESULTS...
- at A level
ith an average points score for
candidates in excess of 350
and an overall 96% pass rate,
The Ashcombe School’s 2003 results
represent outstanding achievement
for many students.
Over 50% of the grades were A or B.
There were many outstanding individual
results: three students gained 5 As
(Steven Strugnell, Bridget Penman and
Alice Thompson) and six gained 4 As
(Harriet Coleman, Chiara Ferrara, David
McKee, Debbie Nicolls, Jennifer Stables,
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Tom Williams and Rachel Winny).
Bridget. Alice, Chiara, Jennifer, Rachel
and Isabel Peacock will be going to
Oxford or Cambridge.
The Lower Sixth’s AS results were
also very pleasing with 7 subjects
recording 100% pass rates and an
average pass rate of 87%. The following
students gained 4 grade As at AS:
Nicholas Allen, Anna Brailsford,
Matthew Kedgley, Keith Mackrell, WaiLing Ng, Tom Ogden, Suzanne Rolland,
Jemma Sulsh, Paul Williams.
- and at GCSE
•
80% of pupils gained 5 A*-C grades
this year equalling the record in each
of last 3 years
•
nearly 50% of pupils gained 9 A*-C
grades
•
•
100% of pupils gained at least 1 A*-G
Outstanding individuals:
8A* Philip Gray
7A*Rebecca Hopson
6A*Helen Collyer Merritt, Jessica
Lowes, Orla Macrae, Fiona
Smith, Emily Wright
5A*Lindsay Jamieson, Daniel Miles,
Rahim Rahemtulla
4A*Sam Cook, Charlotte Fetes, Tom
Harvey, Laura Lister, Ben Loxton,
Matthew Parry, Tom Purchase,
•
Guy Simmonds, Sophie Woodroffe,
Robert Wright
4 pupils gained one of the top five
marks in their subject: Hermione
Lowes, Charlotte Fettes & Philip Gray
(English Literature), Roxanne Da
Silva (French).
News • News • News • News • News • News
Clergy Links
Long standing Governors’ Reception
rian Bowyer has left the area to
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retire to the coast and will therefore
no longer be a Rocking Rev (the second
member of the fab four to leave). His
contribution to assemblies and the
Ashcombe-Clergy group has been
much appreciated and we were able to
say farewell to him in the final
assembly in July
Congratulations
ne of our industry governors has
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had the unique honour of
becoming the first ever Briton to be
elected as President of the Harvard
Alumni Association.
Congratulations to James Baker,
Ashcombe governor and president of
USA university student association
You can access further details of
Jim on our website and there is a clip
from a video on the Harvard
website.http:/www.ashcombe.surrey.
sch.uk/News/news/harvard.htm
John Quigley, Local
Education Office
ne of our governors, Peter Mills,
(pictured fourth from left, front
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row), was invited by the Chairperson
of Surrey County Council to attend a
Reception at County Hall recently in
recognition of long-standing service
as a governor in Surrey. Peter’s first
appointment was at St Martin’s First
Farewell and thank
you to the Sittons
any parents will have benefited,
perhaps not knowingly, from the
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help and advice of John Quigley, who
Duke of Edinburgh
Award Scheme
has just retired from the Surrey
education service. He was always
highly supportive of The Ashcombe
School and we will miss his calm and
reassuring advice. We wish him all
the best in his retirement.
ver the years we have carried
reports in Accent on trips and
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expeditions undertaken by pupils
Fitness training in
the Sports Hall
evil Kapadia, a member of The
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Ashcombe Vollyball association is
keen on running fitness sessions for
or many years Pauline and Graham
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Sitton have given magnificent
support to The Ashcombe School. As
members of The Ashcombe School
community. If you are interested
please contact Nevil on 0208 397
5674 or 07989 898453 or at
[email protected]
parents of daughters here, they served
on the PTA. Graham organised a bus
service for pupils to the school from
the Reigate and Redhill areas during
the 1990s. Pauline ran the uniform
shop. Each July they supported the
Business Week. Graham was also a
governor from 1992 until 1996. They
have now moved to the Isle of Wight
and this summer Pauline’s last sale
took place and she was presented with
a bouquet of flowers as a token of
thanks from the school.
The Big Breakfast
he Big Breakfast event organised
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by last year’s Year 10 raised £100
for Cancer Research and £100 for ‘Age
Concern’.
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and Middle School in 1971 which he
retained until 1993, the last four years
as Chairperson. He was also a
governor at Westcott First School from
1989 - 1996 and at Ashcombe from
1976 - 1981. He was re-appointed at
Ashcombe in 1994 where he has just
begun his third four-year term of office.
aged 13-18 to many parts of the UK.
All visits are accompanied by staff and
qualified volunteer adults. In recent
years we have come to rely almost
exclusively on the support of two exparents, Jackie Ager and Cliff Butlin.
With such a large number of parents
to call on we are certain that there
must be some who would be keen to
help support us in this scheme. We
would welcome any interest from
parents who could help at local
checkpoints, camp overnight or drive
the minibus occasionally. If you are
qualified in first aid or mountain
leadership please contact us. If you
are not but would like to be we can
assist with your training.
Please
contact
the
school
coordinator, Miss Watts, who will be
delighted to hear from you and talk
with you.
International Links and Visits
BIENVENUE EN NORMANDIE
le 9-14 juin, 2003
were checked by 6 a.m.
Allsopassports
96 pupils with 12 staff
Je peux vous poser des
questions s’il vous plaît?
Les rochers d’Étretat
sont beaux!
Qu’est-ce que tu
veux manger?
La Tapisserie de Bayeux?
C’est magnifique!
Merci beaucoup!
clambered aboard the two coaches en
route to Dover. So far so good! Six days
later, everyone returned safely and still
smiling after an exciting and actionpacked schedule in Normandy.
Long journeys to our destinations
are always rather daunting. This time
we combined our picnic lunch with a
detour to an underground city.
Originally these were natural caves
which later became a refuge during
times of conflict.
Many pupils received compliments
on their good French accent as they
interviewed locals and tourists on the
promenade at Étretat, a small coastal
resort famous for its cliffs. Mouths
watered at the patisserie and all
shyness evaporated as they asked for
their favourite “gateau”.
Other
language activities during the week
proved successful too, particularly
planning and buying food for their
picnic lunch in Dieppe.
A bit of history and culture were
inevitable and pupils enjoyed visits to
the Benedictine Abbey at Fécamp, the
famous tapestry at Bayeux and the
Musée Jeanne d’Arc in Rouen.
Everyone was fascinated by the
remains of the Mulberry harbour at
Arromanches, used for the D-Day
landings in 1944. The 360º cinema gave
a good comparative illustration of the
“Price of Freedom” with exerpts from
archived film and peacetime Normandy
nearly 60 years later.
Pupils tasted local produce when
they visited a cheese farm. They learnt
how “Neufchâtel” is produced and
many bought heart-shaped cheeses.
(What a good job we took cool bags!)
As on the journey out, we decided to
detour on the way home, this time to a
chocolate factory. Quite a popular
choice, I think! We’d had a week of
brilliant sunshine and were quite
relieved that it was a little cooler. We
hope the chocolate didn’t melt too
much. It was certainly delicious!
No report should end without a
huge thank you to the staff and parent
volunteers who contributed so much to
the success of the first of many field
trips to France.
Mrs J. Clarke
La Cité Souterraine?
C’est incroyable!
Je voudrais une tartlette
aux fraises, s’il vous plaît
Le Musée Jeanne d’Arc?
C’est intéressant!
Le fromage est
délicieux!
J’aime
le chocolat!
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International Links and Visits
Berlin, 5th - 8th March 2003
or yet another year Berlin was
graced with the presence of the
fabulous Lower Sixth Historians. In
March, Germany braced herself, as a
plane load of Ashcombe
students
arrived to spend four gruelling days in
Berlin. The trip provided many
students with an experience that
they won’t forget.
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Upon first arrival in Berlin, we
were greeted by sharp Siberian winds.
It was bitterly cold. We arrived at the
Youth Hostel, which was perfectly
fine, slightly reminiscent of Cellblock
H, and partial to the colour red. We
were introduced to our guide, Roger.
As we soon conceded, following an
odd spot of sightseeing, Roger came
to represent the oracle
of all
knowledge. We dare say he gave the
teachers a run for their money!
The evening started with a bang or
more to the point a lecture. Roger
once again impressed us with his
passion, hair, and uncompromising
intellect. The second day introduced
the fine Lower Sixth Historians to
further sights, namely that famous
Wall with the name slips my mind. On
a more serious note, the hour we
spent at the Checkpoint Charlie
Museum was a true eye opener. To be
told that you are standing in the ‘death
zone’, formally occupied by Soviet
troops brings the reality of this
experience home.
The evening gave way to the
longest ever attempt at ping-pong and
the group becoming increasingly
closer, as they shared the day’s
experiences.
Day three was just as eventful as the
last two, however somewhat more
emotional. We awoke to snow. We were
taken to a building of true monumental
style and historical significance: The
Reichstag, sandwiched between the
Brandenburg Gate and the Battle of
Berlin memorials. The liberation of
Berlin was granted, at least in our minds
with an uncompromising atmosphere.
The following hours were to be
ones, that I certainly shall never
forget. We could all sense that
visiting the concentration camp of
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Sachenhausen
was going to be
difficult. Nothing
quite prepared
us however, for
what we were
about to witness.
The suffering of
p o l i t i c a l
prisoners, and
prisoners of war
was evident, to
the most explicit
degree.
The
crimes of the
Nazis brutally forced a reality that will
never leave a great number of people
on that trip.
The afternoon brought time for
further reflection as we visited the
Wannsee Villa. The implications of the
conference held here were far
reaching, as many of us could now
contemplate to a certain extent, the
results of the Final Solution. We
returned to the hostel in need of some
mindless fun and games. The final day
in Berlin centred on the town and
palaces of Potsdam.
As we left Berlin, I felt that it had
offered us both experience and an
enjoyment of the company that we
shared. In addition and perhaps more
evident than any other factor, it
offered insight. Berlin is a haven of
historical significance. Everybody
should have the experience at least
once. Despite the cold harsh reality
that it presented, it is certainly
unforgettable.
Anna Brailsford (U6)
International Links and Visits
At the recent PTA AGM, parents
heard from various students
about their trips abroad.
Here below we re-print Tom
Westcott’s talk from that evening
on his trip to Germany in July.
Abend meine Damen und
Guten
Herren. Wie geht’s?
When I found out that I had been
volunteered to talk about my year
group’s trip to Germany last term, I
thought the best way would be if you
could ask questions and I could
answer them.
But I’ve been told that’s not really
practical for tonight, so instead I’ve
tried to work out the sort of questions
that you might want to ask…and then
I asked them and answered them
myself! So here goes…
Question: How long before the trip
happens do you have to decide
you’re going?
You get nearly a year, so the Year
7s who’ve just started will be deciding
now, and it gives them time to start
saving up and preparing.
Question: There are 260 students in
the group. Surely there isn’t a hotel
big enough to accommodate you all
at once?
That’s right, so the year is split up
into groups for travelling by the
coaches we set out in… each coach
stays at a different hotel and each
group will do and see slightly different
things and places.
Question: So what did your group
get up to?
Where do I start? It was a fantastic
week from the moment we left
Dorking really early on the Monday
morning till we got back late on the
Friday evening.
My group went to the Mosel and
we did all sorts of different activities
and trips. Each day we went to a
different place.
My favourites were the ancient
castle at Burg Eltz, the jewel mine and
museum at Idar Oberstein, the boat
trip on the Mosel,and the Eiffel animal
and theme park at Gondorf.
Question: Did you get to speak
German on the trip?
Very much so. We were
encouraged to order our food at the
hotel in German, to speak it when we
went out and about on shopping trips
and we even did a survey of the
people on the streets of Trier and that
was all in German.
Question: What was the food like?
Brilliant. We all kept a diary and it
included a page for what we thought
of the food. Looking at mine I see that
Turkey and Chips got 10 out of 10 on
my marking, so did the celery and
leek soup. But the pears in sauce got a
zero I’m afraid.
Question: Any bad bits?
It was difficult to come home after
such a great trip!
Also having to work out under
pressure which door was for the Gents
toilet, until I remembered that Herren
means men. Luckily I got it right.
Question: Would you do it again and
would you recommend it to a Year 7?
Definitely, it was really great to go
away with my friends, to stay in a
hotel and to actually read and speak
German in shops and on the streets.
Question: What plans for future trips?
I’ve already put my name down
for the Year 8 trip to Normandy in
France next June. And don’t tell my
parents, but one of my reasons for
learning Chinese at The Ashcombe is
that there might just be a visit to
Shanghai when I get to the upper
school. I can’t wait.!
Und jetzt meine Damen und Herren
Vielen Dank für Ihre Zeit.
Which I hope means - and now
ladies and gentlemen, thank you very
much for your hospitality.
Gute Nacht!
Tom Westcott (8XY)
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International Links and Visits
Romania Trip 2003
ink Romania has been running
since the early 1990’s and aims to
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relieve poverty and sickness in
Romania. Their main project at the
moment is the life centre in Iaisi,
which aims to educate at least 40 kids
with showers, laundry, dental care,
social workers and overall to offer
support to families and those most in
need of help.
A large majority of our time was
spent at Romania’s biggest child
hospital. We worked in part of a
corridor but the actual hospital was
huge. It was built in 1935 but it was
never
redecorated
and
the
government have never had enough
money to do so since.
We had three main jobs; to
decorate the rooms with a space and
an under the sea theme, to help in the
playroom decorated by last year’s
lower sixth, and the restoration of the
corridor involving a lot of painting and
sanding. This all took place whilst the
hospital was still operating around us
and the nurses worked hard to keep
the patients happy and to avoid all the
work going on around them.
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that these people were making a real
effort to improve their life. They had
many animals and crops that were
heartening to see, as many people just
accepted the conditions they lived in
and didn’t try to build a better life for
the future.
Laura Slade (U6)
One afternoon we visited the
shantytown. We were all amazed that
a place like this could exist. Our bus
driver didn’t even realise it was there
and it was only a ten minute drive
from the town. The nicest part was
visiting the kindergarten and seeing
the children’s work and hearing one
man say he wished for his daughter to
have a better life when she grew up
and he would make that happen.
Even more surprising than the
shantytown was the town Slobozia.
This was completely isolated, without
power and with only two wells for
several thousand inhabitants. We
brought toys for the children and
soaps for the
mothers. Giving
them out was a
wonderful
experience and
to further the
feeling
we
bought
goods
from their local
shop
thus
supporting their
village
in
a
better way than
simply
giving
them money.
We
also
visited
many
families
and
experienced
some of the
terrible
living
conditions that
were a stark contrast to some of the
homes. People who owned big houses
and had lots of land would rent out
shacks in their gardens to families.
After seeing this, as a group we made
the decision to sponsor a family who
needed money to repair the other
room of their house as the roof had
fallen down. When visiting it was clear
Becca Hall, Gemma Petrillo, Jayne Mills,
Katy Grady, Kirsty Mills, Laura Slade,
Rosy Cummins and Zoe Williams.
Staff
e said goodbye to some very
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special teachers at the end of the
last term, amongst whom featured Mrs
Walton and Mr Reed who had been
with us for 12 and 23 years respectively.
At the time we were giving our best
wishes to those departing colleagues,
we heard that Miss Goswell, winner of
the South East region Teacher of the
Year Award, had been nominated for
the Finals in London later this year. It is
therefore with great pleasure that we
welcome the following teachers and
support staff to our school and we trust
that they will enjoy the richness of life
within this community.
Mrs L.M. Aldridge (Science)
Miss A.M. Ashburner (Languages)
Mr R.J. Atkinson (Maths)
Miss K. Barr (PE)
Miss C.E. Beaumont (Art)
Mr N. Brindlow (English)
Miss E.A. Cruttwell (Languages)
Mrs S.M. Farmer (PSE)
Mrs L. Hill (Maths)
Mr M. Howard (IT Support)
Miss K.E. Lawrance (Drama)
Ms H.S. Mulhern (Languages)
Miss A. Owen (Support Staff)
Miss R. Parr (English)
Miss M. White (Languages)
Miss A. Wynn-Jones (Geography)
International Links and Visits
Fifth Ashcombe Trip to China
n 12th July eight excited students
with Mr Oliver and Ms Mitchell set off
on a journey of a lifetime to Kunming in
the Southwest of China. After 13 hours of
travelling we arrived in Bangkok where
we went on two spectacular excursions to
the Golden Palace, an incredible sight full
of gold and jewel-encrusted buildings.
(Also rather fetching was the sarong Orla
was forced to wear to cover her bare
ankles!). We also went on a boat trip
through the canals and floating villages.
Here we experienced first-hand the stark
contrast between the rich and the poor of
Thailand, which unfortunately was also
very prominent in China. Off the boat we
all succumbed to our first experience of
persistent street sellers (who would
continue to pester us for 3 weeks) and
bought copious amounts of very useful
paper umbrellas! After more travelling,
we finally landed in Kunming. On
arriving at Yunnan University, we were
presented with our welcome pack,
consisting of textbooks, pens, trendy XLARGE, one size fits all t-shirts, and
yellow cap- ‘to be worn on all excursions!’
Our first trip was to the Expo Gardens,
where we were greeted with singing,
dancing, amazingly beautiful costumes
and many of the Chinese press. As our
first experience of the very friendly and
welcoming Chinese people this was an
incredible introduction. Whilst in the
Expo gardens we were also wowed by
Chinese boxers, and carnival floats.
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Our trip however was not all about
excursions. The purpose was to learn
Mandarin, and we experienced our first
lesson the very next morning. The
lessons in China are totally different to
lessons we experience in England. Pupils
in China are in classes of 60, and there is
so much pressure on them to do well.
Pupils we spoke to had so much
homework over the summer holidays
that they worked for hours every
morning! When we told them what
schooling is like in England, they told us
we were so lucky!! (um...it doesn’t feel
like it sometimes!) Every morning we had
three hours of lessons, except for
Sundays and while we were there we
learnt many useful new areas of Chinese
that we tried to practise around Kunming.
One phrase that we found particularly
useful was ‘DUO SHAU QIAN?’ –how
much is that? which many of us managed
to put into use a lot of the time!
Everything is so cheap in China and most
of us made good use of this.
A week into our trip Mrs
Martin, James and Lisa flew
out and quickly settled into
the group. It was nice having
Mrs Martin around helping
us with our Chinese and
finding places for us to visit
in our spare time. She took
us to a ‘vegetarian’ restaurant
which presented everything
‘resembling’ and tasting like
meat, (it didn’t,) which we
thought defeated the object
of vegetarian! Mr Oliver on
the other hand led us on a
trek for over an hour to find
an English restaurant, (much
to Mrs Martin’s horror) that was actually
only 5 minutes away from the University!
Every day we packed so many
activities in. Some highlights were a trip to
the famous Stone Forest; a visit to the
largest flower market in the province; a
meal with local peasant farmers in the
rural mountain villages; Thai Chi classes
(where Tom was featured on the front
page of the local newspaper,) and
calligraphy and Chinese painting lessons.
Not to forget the eventful coach journeys
to our destinations. These were filled with
talk from our hilarious tour guide Martin,
and on one day a POP IDOL-style
competition was held, which was won by
our very own Sophie and Rosie! There
seemed also to be a trend for crazy hair
dyeing. Sarah, Sophie, Lisa, Will and Mrs
Martin had their hair dyed pink, blue,
purple, orange and red! We certainly made
our group known!
A special high point for a lot of people
on the trip was when we each spent an
evening with a Chinese host. Although
this was a terrifying experience, everyone
returned having thoroughly enjoyed their
evening. Everyone’s partner had
thought up individual things to
show or take their English partners
to. Amongst our group James ate
dog and watched Real Madrid play,
Sophie had a meal with her
partner and was given bags of food
to take home with her, Rosie and
John went in computer arcades.
Everyone had totally different
experiences but seemed to enjoy
them thoroughly. We had many
activities with Chinese students,
playing sports, and giving
performances, dancing, and music,
and many of us came away with
new Chinese friends (and their
e-mail addresses) so we can continue our
friendship despite the distance between
us. Sadly, our trip came to a close, but not
before we had a Speak Chinese contest.
Sophie
and
Helen
individually
demonstrated Chinese painting and
calligraphy in front of all the students,
and our class sang a traditional Chinese
song we had practised all week, and came
first! The Closing Ceremony followed this,
where awards were presented. This was
quite a sad occasion, knowing we would
be leaving all of our new English friends
and that our trip was ending. After saying
goodbye to our friends we began the long
trip home. Again we stopped in Bangkok,
this time seeing the Bridge over the River
Kwai, before heading back to England,
(weighed down with presents and gifts
and guitars bought by Lisa, Tom and
James). Everyone came away from the
trip having gained so much. We had all
made new friends, seen and experienced
so many new things, gained a greater
knowledge of Chinese and had had the
trip of a lifetime.
by Rosie Apps & Sophie Austin (U6)
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Sixth Form News
Some scenes from last year’s
Sixth Form school social events
. . . and a photograph of this
year’s Senior Prefects Team.
December: The Annual Dinner Dance
May: An Evening Boat Trip on the Thames
The Senior Prefects 2003-4
Charities Week
Jen Stables, Katie Smith and Nicki Hall and Emma Riley
March: Red Noses - Chiara, Craig, Chris and Tom
An Arts Centre for Ashcombe School
ver recent years we have been able
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to enhance provision for the
teaching of many subjects including
science, modern languages and sport.
Providing quality art studios, specialist
music rooms for group activity and a
small equipped studio to avoid always
having to move across to the main hall
for performances, have been long
standing ambitions. The opening of the
Sports Hall in 2001 means we can now
convert the Bradley Gym to other uses
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and after hard negotiations over several
years, we have now secured about half a
million pounds of funding. You will
appreciate that these are not the
required resources to build on any lavish
scale. However, with some limited
creative new construction around the
Bradley courtyard which would tie
existing buildings in with the upper floor
of the Bradley building, we believe a
very attractive new facility is attainable.
Unfortunately, all our available resources
will only provide the basic bricks and
mortar. We will depend very much on
the funds we can raise ourselves for
many of the internal features. For
instance, Bleacher seating which folds
back against an end wall but can be
wheeled out to provide an instant tiered
auditorium, would be a superb way of
encouraging regular performances.
However, such equipment is expensive.
This is therefore by way of an early
warning. Another Ashcombe fundraising campaign is likely to be
launched later this term!
Sport at The Ashcombe
Sports Day
his year’s Sports Days were
successful with a major focus of
getting as many pupils involved as
possible. Once again the emphasis was
on gaining points for your House with
final points going towards the overall
House competition.
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year and still produce good results for
their House.
The events that the pupils could take
part in were: Shot Putt, Javelin, Discus,
Long Jump and Triple Jump.
certificate for their achievements. The
pupils pictured in pairs received the
Athlete of the Year award for scoring the
highest score in two different events.
The day for the track events was a
different affair. The first day had to be
cancelled due to the fabulous British
weather (must remember not to book
the day in the final week of Wimbledon
because it always rains when Tim
Henman plays!), but luckily the reserve
day (the following week) was fantastic.
Field events were held in the last
week of June and once again the
standard was high with school records
being broken in four events. It was
pleasing to see many pupils compete in
activities they had only practised this
It was pleasing to see many pupils
enjoying the day. All pupils who came
1st, 2nd or 3rd each received a
Year 7 Athletes of the Year:
Daisy Maugouber and Nick Haigh
Year 8 Athletes of the Year:
Rebecca Gardner and Richard Moorcroft
Year 9 Athletes of the Year:
Zoe Shannon and Chris Black
Year 10 Athletes of the Year:
Sarah Boreham and Will Riley
Priory and the Head of Department
will be meeting the Dorking Sports
Group to discuss future Primary
developments linked with The
Ashcombe School.
Primary Schools
aving had use of the sports hall for
over a full year now, the PE
Department felt ready to further
develop links with the primary schools.
All of the primary schools were invited
to bring a selection of pupils from Year
5 and the PE Department organised a
carousel of activities for the pupils
including Volleyball, Trampolining,
Kwik-Kricket, Stoolball and Short
Tennis.
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The aim was to offer the primary
school pupils an opportunity to
participate in activities they may not
usually experience, visit the school and
meet the PE staff. All involved enjoyed
this opportunity and gained a great deal
from the experience and it is hoped that
this first venture will be developed next
year.
Athletics
Thanks to the PE staff and helpers
for all their hard work, time and effort
they put into giving the pupils at The
Ashcombe School many opportunities
to participate and compete in physical
activity. The PE Department is still
fighting to get pupils to attend
practices. Opportunities are being
planned for pupils to meet with staff
to discuss the changes made to this
year’s programme. In future more
activities will be planned with The
ull teams were fielded for the
F
English Schools Athletics Cup held
at Croydon Arena in May. This is a
team event where all individual
performances contribute towards a
final team total. The competition was
a high standard and our best
performance was by the Inter girls,
who came 3rd out of 6 teams.
Individual success was achieved by
4 of our students in the District
Championships held at Kingsmeadow
in May. The following qualified for
Central Surrey at the County
Championships: Sarah Boreham
(discus), Zoe Shannon (1500m), Lee
Bacon (100m) and Joe Bullen (800m).
The after-school Athletics club has
been one of the best-supported
activities held here with up to 40
pupils attending. There have been
opportunities to practise for Sports
Day and achieve badges for different
levels of ability from bronze to gold.
9
On L i ne
hile fulfilling a Governor’s Health
Wand
Safety Inspection at the school
recently my attention was drawn to the
passing of a sleek Turbo Express en
route from Reading to Gatwick Airport.
Memories immediately transported
me back to the ‘age of steam’ prior to
1967 which many will have witnessed,
particularly if they were based in the
three classrooms at the east end of the
first floor of what is now known as the
Ranmore building.
The rooms immediately overlooked
the tennis courts and railway line
though I would guess it was the girls
playing tennis or netball that kept the
boys in rapt attention!
The last train of the school day left
Deepdene at 15.30 heading in the
direction of Reading. This service was
normally composed of a three coach
unit of ‘birdcage’ stock with two milk
wagons at the rear and regularly headed
by ‘U’ class locomotives Nos 1618 or
1638 among others.
The line played a major part in the
evacuation of troops from Dunkerque
in 1940. With passenger services
suspended, a succession of ambulance
and troop trains every ten minutes from
the direction of the Channel ports were
welcomed by a host of local residents
lining the Meadowbank side of the then
Fourteen Step Bridge.
As D-Day approached, the line was
occupied by supply trains in the
opposite direction loaded with guns,
tanks and other army vehicles hauled
by a variety of steam locomotives of
which ‘Q’ class 541 was one of many.
With the re-occupation of Europe
well under way the then Southern
Railway inaugurated the so-called
‘leave’ train running between Dover and
Newcastle on weekdays only with a stop
at Deepdene at 10.30 which the general
public were free to use.
A variety of locomotives were used
on this train including members of the
‘Schools’ class of which 928 “Stowe”
was one.
During the Dunkerque crisis I recall
Miss Wilcox, who taught geography in
the Lower School, setting a homework
project to investigate the importance of
‘our’ crosscountryline.
This stimulated my interest in
railways and I subsequently joined the
school’s Railway Club of which Michael
Bowler, Geoff Metherell and Brian
Johnson formed the nucleus, all of
10
whom are sadly
no longer with
us.
Wa r t i m e
restrictions
never seemed
to prevent us
gaining access
to the loco
sheds
at
Redhill, Three
B r i d g e s ,
Horsham and
Guildford, but
sheds at Nine Elms, Battersea and
Norwood Junction tested our ingenuity.
three classes: Merchant Navy, West
Country and Battle of Britain.
On one famous occasion we had
almost completed our reconnaissance
of the Bricklayers Arms’ shed when we
were confronted by the Shed
Superintendent dressed in a dark suit,
bowler hat and rolled umbrella.
He then went on to produce a rather
inelegant Qi class of 40 freight locos the
first of which was numbered Cl and
allocated to Guildford and destined to
become a familiar sight passing the
school.
A tactical retreat was the order of
the day chased by the aforesaid
gentleman waving his umbrella and
uttering those immortal words “clear
off you little perishers” or words to that
effect.
A few of the West Country class
were eventually rostered on the
Reading-Redhill service and it was one
of these, 21C123 Blackmoor Vale, that
appeared on the 8.25 service from
Deepdene that Pauline Clark (ne’e
Bray), David Boxall (now living in
Australia) and myself travelled to sit
additional School Certificate papers at
Reigate County School in 1945!
Little was it realised by us as 14 and
15 year-olds that both Mike amd Geoff
would attain senior management status
with the Southern Railway and
subsequently British Rail.
In 1937 O.V. Bulleid had been
appointed Chief Mechanical Engineer
and in 1941 he produced the first of a
batch of 120 locos with an innovative
air-smoothed
external
cladding
appearance. They were divided into
It is certainly quite a remarkable
coincidence that the six locomotives
referred to in this article have been
preserved and can be found on the
Bluebell Railway based at Sheffield
Park, East Sussex, where a visit will
provide quite a pleasurable experience.
Peter Mills (Governor)
Ashcombe Miniature Railway News
Si
nce Christmas, the members have
been
quite
active.
Normal
maintenance and repair work have
proceeded as usual, either indoors or
outdoors, depending upon time of year
and weather.
Two outings have taken place. The
first was to the railway museum at
Swindon, called ‘Stearn’, in February.
The second was to the Bluebell Railway
for their “Bluebell at War” weekend.
During this visit, we witnessed a
‘German spy’ arrested on the platform
at Horsted Keynes after a fierce gun
battle. (Do not be alarmed, it was all
done by actors!). We also saw Fred
Dibnah finning for another T.V. series.
Progress at the track has been
good and we now have all the signals
working. Since April we have been
blessed with good weather for most of
the activities that we have undertaken.
Another of our younger members
has just been accepted for
membership of the Surrey Society of
Model Engineers, who meet at
Leatherhead.
R.E.Wakeford
News • News • News • News • News • News
Sponsored Walk
very successful, incident-free walk
was enjoyed under lovely blue
A
skies. Much chivvying eventually
brought in almost £15,000 in
sponsorship money. A super new white
minibus from Preston is now being put
to good use with part of the income
from the walk. We are grateful to the
PTA and The Ashcombe Trust for their
contributions to the purchase of the
minibus. The balance from the walk
will be put to the Tanzania fund.
The Engineering Harpist!
Performing at the
Hannah Peschar
Garden - 15 June
Dorking Charity called ‘Kids for
A
Kids’ requested some music for a
garden party. We worked with the Year
11 Jazz group and used the ideas of
composing to represent images/objects
as a stimulus for Year 10 composition.
It was
great success and many
complimentary
comments
were
received. One gentleman offered to
pay for a Jazz workshop at the school
with a traditional trad jazz band. Some
of the students met Ringo Starr who
opened the garden party.
ulti-talented Jamie Mason, now
M
in Year 10, had an outstanding
summer term. As the photographs
illustrate, he won a Wind-Powered
Crane Competition, picking up the
Trophy for the Best Engineer and
Highest Distance. The Guildford
Model Engineering Society hosted the
competition.
At the Summer Soirée in July,
Jamie delighted the audience playing
“Black and White Reg” on his harp.
This concert followed shortly after
Jamie had won festivals at Croydon
and Redhill for his harp-playing.
11
KEY DATES FOR THE ASHCOMBE SCHOOL YEAR 2003-2004
AUTUMN TERM 2003
Thursday 25 September ..............Games Day
11X Parents’ Evening
Friday 26 September ..................European Day of Languages
Tuesday 30 September ................11Y Parents' Evening
Wednesday 1 October..................School Photos
Thursday 2 October ....................Annual Governors' Meeting 7.30
Thursday 9 to ..............................6th Form Assessments and
Wednesday 15 October
GNVQ Work Experience
Thursday 16 October ..................Inset Day & Open Evening
Friday 17 October ........................Inset Day & PTA Quiz Evening
Friday 17 to
Monday 20 October ....................D of E Gold to Peak District
Monday 20 to
Friday 24 October ........................Y9 Assessments
Tuesday 21 October ....................Into the Sixth Form: evening
for parents and pupils 6.45
Wednesday 22 October ..............Y7 Parents'/Tutors evening 6.00
Monday 27 October - Friday 31 October: HALF TERM
Saturday 8 November ................Weekend rehearsals for
& Sunday 9 November ................“Calamity Jane”
Tuesday 11 to [not Thursday 13th]
Saturday 15 November ................“Calamity Jane”
Monday 17 November ................Y11 progress reviews
Wednesday 19 November ..........U6 mock interviews
Thursday 20 November ..............10X Parents' Evening
Arrival of German Exchange
Friday 21 November ....................6th Form progress reviews
W/b Monday 24 November ........Y8 Assessments
Tuesday 25 November ................10Y Parents' Evening
Thursday 27 November ..............Year 10 modular Science exam
Friday 28 November ....................Departure of German Exchange
Tuesday 2 December ..................L6+targeted U6 Parents' Evening
Thursday 4 December ................6th Form Dinner Dance
Y11 study leave/exams start
Friday 5 December ......................Y9 progress reviews to parents
W/b Monday 8 December ..........R.S. Week
Wednesday 10 December............Christmas Service St. Paul's 7.30
Tuesday 16 December ................Awards Evening 8.00
Wednesday 17 December
Senior Citizens' Party +
6th Form Certificate Evening
Thursday 18 December ..............Y10 progress reviews to parents.
Term ends 1pm
SPRING TERM 2004
Monday 5 January........................Term starts
Wednesday 7 to
Tuesday 13 January......................Y7 assessments
Friday 9 January ..........................Arrival of French Exchange
Tuesday 13 January......................Y11 Certificate Presentation
Evening 7.30
Sunday 18 January ......................Departure of French Exchange
Tuesday 20 January......................Y10 modular French exam
Wednesday 21 January ................Y10 modular German exam
Thursday 22 January ..................Introduction to Upper School
Y9 pupils and parents 6.45
Tuesday 27 January......................6th Form Music Performance
Evening
Wednesday 28 January ..............Y8 progress reviews to parents
Wednesday 28 January to
Friday 6th February ....................6th Form assessments
Thursday 29 January ..................9X Parents’ Evening
Monday 2 February......................Y11 reports to parents
Tuesday 3 February......................9Y Parents’ Evening
Thursday 5 February ..................German Exchange departs
Gym & Dance 7.00
Monday 9 February......................Y11, 1Yr L6 Work Experience
Thursday 12 February ................8X Parents’ Evening
Friday 13 February ......................Return of German Exchange
Y7 progress reviews to parents
Saturday 14 February ..................Ski trip departs +
U6 English Battlefields trip
12 - 15 February ..........................Y10 Battlefield trip
Monday 16 TO Friday 20 February: HALF TERM
Monday 23 February....................Charities Week
Tuesday 24 February ..................8Y Parents’ Evening
NB. Please note exchange dates are yet to be confirmed.
Wednesday 25 to
Saturday 28 February ..................L6 History/German trip to Berlin
Monday 1 March ..........................Start of Y10 exams
Y10 modular Maths exam
Wednesday 3 March ....................Y10 modular Science exam
Thursday 4 March........................World Book Day
Friday 12 March to
Sunday 14 March ........................Silver D of E Expedition
Thursday 18 March......................Spring Concert (Hall) 7.30
Friday 19 March ..........................6th Form reports to parents
Departure of French Exchange
Tuesday 23 March to
Thursday 25 March......................A2 Biology fieldwork
Thursday 25 March......................7X+Targeted Y11 Parents’ Evening
Friday 26 to
Saturday 27 March ......................D of E Bronze
Sunday 28 March ........................Return of French Exchange
Tuesday 30 March ........................7Y+Targeted 6th Form
Parents’ Evening
Friday 2 April................................Term ends
Sunday 11 April ............................Easter Sunday
SUMMER TERM 2004
Monday 19 April ..........................Term starts
Tuesday 20 April ..........................Y7 + Y11 + 6th Form photos
Wednesday 21 to
Wednesday 28 April ....................Y7 assessments
Thursday 29 April to
Tues 11 May ..................................Y8 exams
Friday 30 April ............................Y10 reports to parents
D of E Silver to Ashdown
Monday 3 May..............................Bank Holiday
Tuesday 4 to Friday 14 May ......Start of Y9 exams
Friday 14 to Saturday 15 May ....D of E Bronze
Wednesday 19 May......................Y11 last day
Thursday 20..................................Y7X Open Morning for Parents
Friday 21 May ..............................History visit to the Somme
Tuesday 25 May ..........................Y10 Modular German exam
Wednesday 26 May......................Y7Y Open Morning for Parents
Thursday 27 May ........................Lower School Recital Evening
Last day for U6
Friday 28 May ..............................Staff training day
Monday 31 May - Friday 4 June : HALF TERM
Tuesday 8 June ............................Y10 Modular Maths exam
Wednesday 9 June........................Y10 Modular French exam
Thursday 10 June ........................Y7 reports to parents
Friday 11 June ..............................Y10 Modular German exam
Friday 11 to Saturday 12 June ....D of E Bronze
Monday 14 to Saturday 19 June Yr 8 French visit
Wednesday 16 June ....................Y10 Modular French exam
Thursday 17 June ........................Y10 Music Performance Evening
Monday 21 June ..........................L6 return
Tuesday 22 June ..........................Staff training day
Thursday 24 June ........................Interhouse Music Festival
Friday 25 June ..............................6th Form Induction Day
Tuesday 29 June ..........................Y10 Modular Science exam
Wednesday 30 June ....................Y10 Modular Maths exam;
L6 HE parents’ evening
Thursday 1 July ............................Y10 Modular German exam
Friday 2 July ................................Y8 reports to parents
Friday 2 to Saturday 3 July..........D of E Bronze
Monday 5 July ..............................New intake evening
Tuesday 6 July ............................New intake Day
Wednesday 7 July ........................Field events
Thursday 8 July ............................Track Day. Summer Soirée (Hall) 7.30
Sunday 11 July..............................D of E Gold Expedition to Lake District
Monday 12 July ............................Start of L6 Work Experience Week
Y10 Business Week
Y9 Activities Week
Y8 Drama Week
Y7 Germany/curriculum week
Saturday 17 July ..........................China trip departs
Monday 19 July ............................Y9 reports to parents
Tanzania trip departs
Wednesday 21 July ......................Term ends 1pm
Thursday 19 August ....................A Level Results
Thursday 26 August ....................GCSE Results