CAOKS Newsletter School Newsletter

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Week beginning Monday 11 July

Swimming for Chester
Siobhan Barnard (RmSG) was a member of the Chester relay team that came third in the 4x100m medley and second in the 4x100m front crawl at the Nothern Counties swimming competition. Teams from all over the north west of England took part. These results qualified the team for a place in the National Championships, but Siobhan will not be able to swim as she will be away on holiday.

Chess Championship
Ciaran Willis (Sh SB) was the winner this year's school chess championship, beating Anthony Lodge (4PN) in the final.

Blue Wings, RAF Leadership Course, and Outstanding Service Certificate
Amanda Scott (L6JB) is one of five cadets from the school to be offered a Gliding Scholarship during this academic year. Owing to poor weather she was not able to spend as much time in the air as she would have liked but she completed the course successfully and is entitled to wear the "Blue Wings".

Amanda is also one of two of the school's cadets to be awarded places on the prestigious Air Cadet Leadership Courses. Only 96 places in total are available to cadets from the 193 RAF sections in the UK. The other cadet to be awarded a place is Aaron Ferguson (L6CH). Aaron completed his course last week and was a member of the winners of the week's "Best Filght" competition. He also passed the course with a distinction, which very few do, and came away with the "Best Cadet" award.

Gareth Probert (U6RP) has been presented with a CCF Certificate of Outstanding Service in recognition of his work with the RAF section.

Trinity College Music Examinations
In the recent examinations 28 students achieved passes in various grades 1 to 8. Of these 13 were merits and 6 were distinctions. Special congratulations are due to Head of School Owain Johnstone who achieved a distinction in grade 8 trumpet.

Duke of Edinburgh Awards
William Fletcher (5FV) and achieved his bronze award. Silver awards have been achieved by Clement Barber (L6JB), Rhodri Owen (L6SW), Matthew Pipe (L6SW) and Robert Wildman (L6DY).

County and district tennis champions
Siobhan Barnard (RmSG) became the Cheshire U12 singles champion after winning the final on Sunday 11 July.

Tony Ham (3TK) won the Chester and District Year 9 tournament but was unable to compete in the Cheshire finals. Robert Stein (RmAN) won the Chester and District Year 7 singles tournament and finished fourth in the county final.

Tsunami fund raising click on a photo to bring up a larger version in a new window

Following our efforts in the New Year to raise money for the victims of the Boxing Day Tsunami, the charities committee reps were keen that our money went to projects where we would see the effects of what our donation was achieving. We have already supported a centre for orphaned children in Sri-Lanka and have been working on establishing a link with villages in India . Through the Reverend Glyn Conway of Holy Ascension Parish in Upton , we have established a contact with a priest in India , Father Bala Raj. He survived the Tsunami but many of those in his Parish on the Indian coast, south of Madras did not. Those who survived have faced many challenges including the fact that their homes and livelihoods had been destroyed along with their loved ones. Their water supplies were also contaminated by the salt water of the Tsunami. Mourning deeply and with no means to provide for themselves or their remaining family members, they were reliant on the sort of help which Father Bala and his church have provided.

Cycle ride in aid of St Luke's Hospice and SOS Children
On Sunday Ben Lamont (3KL), Richard Meredith (3KL) and Jack O'Donnell (3MB) cycled 105 miles from Broxton to Abersoch to raise money for the Hospice. They had to endure driving rain and wind to complete the ride. They raised more than £1000 for the Hospice and SOS Children, which supports African children orphaned by AIDS.

International rowing selection
Patrick Greaney and Nick Fearnhead have both gained selection to compete for Great Britain in the World Junior Championships held in Brandenburg, Germany in early August. Both are selected to compete in the eight.  This selection is a great achievement, as it represents achieving a extremely high standard to compete on the world stage.  King's also entered two other very good athletes, Michael Roberts and Alistair Cameron, who failed to progress through the extremely competitive selection trials for European Match GB team selection.  Patrick Greaney leaves King's this Summer. The younger Nick Fearnhead has one more year at King's, and is eligable for one more year at Junior International competition. The rowing club wish them both well for their international campaign.

Week beginning Monday 27 June

Ashes Walk
The "Ashes Walk" came to the Northwest this week and four King's School boys are pictured with Nick Hancock, who was representing Mike Gatting, the President of the Lord's Taverners, who are raising money to "give young people, particularly those with special needs, a sporting chance". The walk is taking in all 18 First Class County Grounds and (from left to right) Thomas Fearnall, Michael Thorpe, Simon Younger and Patrick Fletcher assisted Nick with the four miles or so into Old Trafford, where a Minibus was presented to a Special Needs School by Coronation Street's Helen Worth, wine expert Oz Clark and Nick himself. The Lord's and Lady Taverners organize a series of interesting events with the stars of stage and the sporting world and anyone wishing details for the Chester area should contact Mark Fearnall on 07767 342507.

National Maths Olympiad
William Moreland (ShAP) and Mami Kamoshita (ShSO) were entered into the National Maths Olympiad having both scored over 100 in the Maths Challenge. Both William and Mami were placed in the top 25% of entrants, gaining a Distinction.

Welbeck Competition
Two teams from King's School CCF travelled to Welbeck Army Sixth Form College for the weekend to take part in their annual competition, hoping to follow up on their successes in the past two years. This was the last time the competition was to be held at their current home near Worksop, as they are to relocate during the summer.

The junior team were joint winners of their competition and the senior team came second in theirs. More details on the CCF page.

Women's Henley Regatta
Olivia Whitlam won at Womens Henley, and Jo Bostock reached the final (for a second consecutive year).  Olivia was in the Senior Coxed fours event, in which they dominated every race.  Jo was racing in the senior Coxless fours event, losing in the final.  Congratulations to these two rowers from our recent sixth form girls beginners' group who have quickly hit the heights! (Both left in July 2003.)

On the strength of this success they are looking forward to racing Women's Eights event at the Henley Royal Regatta this coming week, where our school crews race Wednesday 7:10pm for the eight and Friday (start time to be arranged) for the quad.

Week beginning Monday 13 June

Daily Telegraph Junior Open Golf
This tournament took place on Thursday 2 June at the Old Padeswood Golf Club near Mold. Thomas Burnet (ShJK) scored 75 gross, and after deducting 14 for his handicap his net score came down an amazing 61. This meant that he has the best gross score and the best net score on the day, beating boys of up 18 years of age with much lower handicaps than his own. He now goes through to the next qualifying round. This is a tremendous start to the season for Thomas.

Week beginning Monday 23 May

County selection for cricketers
Remove cricketers Oliver Thompson (RmCC) and George Johansen (RmAN) have been selected to represent Cheshire at under-12 level.  This is a fine achievement in the face of stiff competition and both deserve the heartiest congratulations.   Both are very talented all-rounders.

National ranking for tennis player
In the July 2005 edition of "British Tennis" Christopher Hales (RmJM) is ranked number two in the Great Britain boys 12 and under age group. Visit our tennis page for results and reviews of matches.

International skier
Piers Lomax (5DL) has achieved the distinction of being selected for the English ski team. He will now be doing all of his training with the national squad and travelling with the team all over Europe to compete in races.

Week beginning Monday 16 May

Cheshire Schools Senior Tennis Doubles Championships
The school first four tennis team played and won the Championships at Wilmslow School.

University Challenge champion
David Whitley (20) was part of the triumphant team from Corpus Christi , Oxford that beat University College , London , 250 - 140 in the 2005 final of BBC2's University Challenge.

David left King's in 2003 having excelled in many areas of school life. He won the Westminster Medal in his final year, the school's top academic prize, was an outstanding musician and played leading roles in many school plays and musicals. He achieved one of the top five marks in the country for Physics at A level but nevertheless chose to read English at Corpus Christi .

On a recent visit to school, David said, "My 15 minutes of fame has been great fun especially as I was a late recruit to the Corpus Christi team after having been seen in action at various pub quizzes." As for Jeremy Paxman, scourge of the politicians, David found him, "surprisingly quiet and perfectly pleasant."

David hopes to stay on at Oxford for postgraduate study and eventually to make his living as a children's writer. He was recently shortlisted for the Fidler Award for unpublished writers.

Week beginning Monday 9 May

Presentation of charity funds to Lady Edwina Grosvenor click on a photo to view a larger version in a new window

Lady Edwina Grosvenor was presented with a cheque for £620.90 to fund the work of the Esther Benjamins Trust. The Esther Benjamins Trust was established in 1999 by Philip Holmes in memory of his first wife Esther. The EBT is a UK-registered charity that works exclusively in Nepal on projects that help those children and young people most marginalised and discriminated against by society. Read more about the project that Lady Edwina has been involved in.

Young Enterprise award
King's YE company Uber won the award for the best presentation at the Chester and Warrington Strategic Board Final, held at AstraZeneca. Managing Director Michael Cattell (L6JB) was presented with a shield and the team received certificates to mark their achievement.

Physics Olympiad and Physics Challenge
Around 5,000 students from across the UK enter the Physics Olympiad each year. The 12 best were recently invited to take part in a Physics training camp at Abingdon School to select a team to represent the UK in the International Olympiad. Dominic Benson (U6AH) scored the highest mark in the country for the final theory paper but narrowly missed out on a place in the team. He was still acknowledged to be one of the top 10 sixth form physicists in the country and was presented with a prize by Dr Cyril Isenberg at the Royal Society in London. The photo to the right shows Dominic at the Royal Society.

James Timmins, James Griffiths, Ben Hall, Tom Murphy and Michael Hau also achieved awards in the Olympiad. The fifth form Physics Challenge produced commendations for Pranav Khamar, Jonathan Bedford, Matthew Skues, David Tattersall and Matthew Firth.

Chester Music Festival
This took place at King's on Saturday 7 May. Michael Cannon (5SP) won the Open Piano Solo B (Romantic) Class.

Munich Junior International Regatta
Patrick Greaney (U6CH) and Nick Fearnhead (L6NH) represented Great Britain in the Junior rowing squad at Munich Regatta, where most European junior international team coaches test out their athletes to check out the form.

Disappointment about The Green Party's performance in the general election but ...
FOOTPRINT is a new group that will meet regularly each week to examine the ecologiocal and ethical footprint left by individuals and organisations. Students are being invited to design a logo for the advertising materials. More information and logo entries - Mr Harle or Mr Parry.

Staff against leavers rugby
The leavers snatched victory in a close game (well, quite close). page.

Week beginning Monday 2 May

Visit to Harper Adams University College
All members of 3TK spent a day at the college to study bioethics as an extension to their RS course. The issues considered included animal welfare, GM crops, and the use of pesticides. It provided the students with cross-curricular links with biology and PSE.

Biodiversity for Youth awards
Oliver Holt and Hamish Luckas (both of ShSO) are to be awarded certificates for their contribution to the conservation of Cheshire's endangered species. They gave their time to a project acquiring a dry stone wall, donated by a Welsh individual, so that it could be rebuilt as Hadrians' Wall at Upton Millview School. This project is creating a garden 100m x 30m, shaped to represent the UK. It will show a timeline, distribution of species, and geological and historical trails.

The Fumi Fashion Show
This was a huge success. An audience of around 120 people clapped, cheered and enjoyed the large array of contemporary fashion kindly displayed by our sponsors via the wonderful team of models. Thuz (Thurane Myint), Fumi's resident DJ, provided excellent musical entertainment for the evening and ensured that each designer's range was complemented well. Despite the postponement of the event beforehand and the various problems in the run up to the show an enjoyable evening was had by all.

The Fumi Management Team would like to thank the following for their efforts which ensured the show's success:

Fumi would also like to thank its own staff for their efforts in organising and producing the show. Special thanks should also go to Mr. John Hargreaves for providing supervision of the event, Mr. Richard Parker for supporting the company throughout its lifetime and Ms. Penny Hopkinson and members of the China Expedition for providing bar and refreshment facilities for the show.

The sponsors were: Felicity Pink, Harriet Woodward, French Connection UK, Know Hart, Azzurri Menswear, Pilot and The Virgin Cosmetics Company.

Week beginning Monday 25 April

CCF - achievements and promotions
The parade of the 22nd of April was a busy one in terms of achievements and promotions within the RAF Cadets. Corporals Aaron Ferguson and Adam James now hold the rank of Sergeant having received promotions. Junior Corporal Amanda Scott is to be congratulated on successfully completing a gliding scholarship during the Easter holidays and the following cadets should be congratulated for passing their examinations.

Recruit Examination: Cdt J Hopkinson, Cdt W Moreland

Part One Examination: Cdt A Hales, Cdt D Wynne, Cdt A Mohan, Cdt L Williams, Cdt R Gargory, Cdt C Hall, Cdt K Bernie, Cdt B Picken, Cdt E Carty, Cdt G Kiff

Part Two Examination: Cdt D Hales, Cdt A Kasliwal

National hockey champions
Cheshire won the national U15 hockey championship played at Millfield School at the weekend. The team won all their matches beating Somerset, Kent and Derbyshire to become clear winners of the tournament. Matthew Mellor (4ML) played a full part in the team's performances and was an excellent representative of the school and his club.

Young Enterprise
King's YE teams were very successful in the Chester finals. Uber, led by Mike Cattell (L6JB), won the award for the best company and will now progress to representing Chester in the Cheshire regional finals. Uber also won the award for the best presentation while Rhodri Owen (L6SW) of Pi(e) was named "best individual achiever".

The Fumi Fashion Show is being held at the school on Friday 29 April at 7pm. The event is being sponsored by French Connection UK, Azzuri Menswear, The Virgin Cosmetics Company, Harriet Woodward and Felicity Pink. More information is available from Fumi staff.

Gunking escapee
Josh Sharp (RmCC) appeared on TV's "The Saturday Show". He won a Play Station 2 after winning the quiz and did not get gunked.

Mock election
Campaigning has already begun with hustings to take place at lunchtime on Tuesday 3 May. Voting will be carried out during form time on Election Day, Thursday 5 May, and the result will be published on Friday 6 May.

Candidates are Joel Brasher-Jones (The Green Party), Owain Johnstone (Liberal Democrats), James Marsden (The Ofiicial Monster Raving Loony Party), Adam Palin (Respect - The Unity Coalition), Gareth Probert (The Conservative and Unionist Party), Andrew Sissons (Liberal Rastas), and Richard Small (The Labour Party).

County hockey honours
Alice Plews (ShAP) and Hannah Morgan (ShJK) have been awarded their county hockey badges after representing the Cheshire U14 schoolgirls' hockey team. This is a particularly fine achievement since they are both U13 players.

Week beginning Monday 18 April

School magazine poetry competition
The magazine committee is running a poetry competition for the English department with the winning poem(s) being published in the school magazine. The poem is to be based on a painting by Jessica Crowther.

London Marathon
Mr Horne (science teacher and Director of Football) completed the marathon on Sunday last, raising money for Clare House in the process.

Golf - Royal St David's Junior Boys' Salver
On 31 March Tom Way-Rider (L6 DY) won this prestigious competition, regarded as the MId-Wales nett competition for Junior Boys. Playing off 8, Tom carded a nett 67 to tie, but he won on a countback system.

Stephan Cooling (5WB) finished fourth with a nett 69 off a handicap of 12 and Tom Burnett (ShJK) scored a nett 75 off his handicap of 15.

Week beginning Monday 11 April

Associated Board Music Examination Results
Various examinations were taken by 24 pupils - grades 1 to 7 with flute, violin, saxophone, piano, trumpet, cello, singing and theory. All candidates not only passed but also achieved merit or distinction. There were 7 distinctions and 17 merits.

ISFA football
Jonathan Bedford (5DL) represented the ISFA in three matches against visiting Italian youth teams, one of which was a league club team. The ISFA team won two of their matches and drew the third. Jonathan scored three goals - one was the goal that forced a draw against the league club team and the other two were in a 8-0 victory in the first match.

Showcase Science Conference
A group of 7 lower sixth physics students attended this national conference at Warwick School. Numerous leading scientists, all Fellows of The Royal Society, gave talks on their own research. Student delegates gave talks on their own research and/or presented their results in poster format.

Our students produced two posters: "Einstein - the answer to the energy crisis" (Clement Barber, Tom Lewis and Richard Fletcher) and "The Role of Physics in Diagnostic Medicine" (Lewis Gurran, Ming-Chee Chung, Andrew Norman, Luke Farrow and Laura-Beth Pilkington). Out of forty poster presentations the latter won first prize in the Physical Science section. The winning team members were presented with their prize by Professor Sir George Radda, a former CEO of the Medical Research Council.

Inter School Ski Challenge in France
Thomas Johansen (ShSB) was the only school representative but did extremely well finishing 6th in the slalom, 9th in the giant slalom and 8th overall in his age group.

Swimming Championships
James Nicholls (4PF) has recently competed in the North Wales Championships, where he won two gold medals in breaststroke, and in the Welsh Championships where came 3rd and 4th in breaststroke. He also achieved national qualifying times for the 100m and 200m breaststroke. These time qualify him to swim in the GB Championships to be held in Sheffield in August and put him in the top 15 swimmers in his age group nationally.

If for any reason you can't find what you are looking for have a look in our alphabetical list, or contact us on the following email: info@kingschester.co.uk