ST PAUL’S neWsIssue 08 I Spring Term 2018 I St Paul’s School, Lonsdale Road, London, SW13 9JT I www.stpaulsschool.org.uk

Thank you for your support andunderstanding during the early Marchvisitation of the Beast from the East,when we attempted to balance thecompeting objectives of keeping theschool open for as long as possible withensuring boys could travel via badlydisrupted transport services. As youknow, many schools gave up and closed.Our determination to stay open waspartly influenced by the observation of aPauline of Finnish descent: “you call it theBeast from the East, we call it Wednesday”.

Academic highlights shine throughoutthis edition of News. Excellent university

offers and destinations sit alongside ahost of super-curricular achievements.The two are linked, of course: by routinelydeveloping academic curiosity andcapacity beyond the curriculum, Paulinespresent as attractive candidates to theworld’s top-ranked universities. Is there aschool in the country where 266 studentsopted to participate in the UK SeniorMathematics Challenge, with 95% ofthem receiving medals, 117 golden? Noother school in the country came close to matching the performance of Paulinesin the national Biology Olympiads.Elsewhere, Anton Fedotov and HaolinZhao came third in their respective age

catagories in the BEBRAS NationalComputing Competition. One of ourYoung Enterprise teams – ‘Surelight’ –won the ‘Best Overall Company’ at thisyear’s National Trade Fair, while anotherteam – ‘RaySafe’ – did the same atSpitalfields Young Enterprise Trade Fair.Next year we will be launching a newEntrepreneurialism course for Paulines,and now we know where to recruit the teachers.

Extra-curricular highlights are just asvaried and bright. The two premierevents at the National Schools RacketsSingles Championships at Queen’s Club

were won by Paulines, at U15 (IsaacWighton) and U18 (Matteo Perper). SPJ pupil Lorenzo Massi came first in the2005 boys’ category in the Grand PrixMigros, Adelboden. The ChampionshipVIII won the Schools’ Head in recordtime, the second VIII beat most otherschools’ 1st VIIIs, and the school’s overallperformance was sufficient to secure theThames Cup for the fourth year running.More confirmation, as if any was needed,that St Paul’s is rounded, rewarding… and very busy.

Mark Bailey, High Master, St Paul’s School

spring Update from the high master

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StPaulsSchool1509Follow us at... StPaulsSchool stpaulsschoollondon school/st-paul’s-school

Universities UpdateForty-four percent (84 out of 190) of leavers in 2016* are studying at universitiesranked within the top 10 in the QS 2016 World University Rankings; fifty-sevenpercent (108 out of 190) of leavers in 2016 are studying at universities rankedwithin the top 20 in the QS 2016 World University Rankings. Of those opting tostudy in the UK in 2016, 95% went on to Russell Group universities, with 53entering Oxford or Cambridge. Thirty-one chose to study abroad, with 28 entering Ivy League or equivalent US universities.

*The full list of 2017 leaver’s destination will be published in September 2018.Due to some leavers taking a gap year, 2016 is the most recent year for which we have full details. An update on early 2018 US university offers will appear in the Summer News edition.

academic

Pupils Walk to ZambiaOn the last day of term, pupils and staff left the gates of the St Paul’s to walk the distanceof approximately 6,500 miles between the School and the Copperbelt Region of Zambia,raising over £25,000 for Beyond Ourselves. In staggered groups, and some interestingcostumes, every senior pupil walked between Hammersmith Bridge and Putney Bridge,with rowers out on the Thames and swimmers in the pool adding to the distance acrossthe Channel and Strait of Gibraltar.

Building on the success of recent trips to work with schools in Sri Lanka through theSenahasa Trust, St Paul’s School aims to build a long-term partnership with educationalcharity Beyond Ourselves, who work with several community primary schools in Zambia. In July, a group of Eighth Form boys will visit Beyond Ourselves in the Copperbelt region in July 2018, in an initial step that will help pupils from both countries develop a betterunderstanding of global issues through pupil visits, fundraising and integration into thecurrent curriculum (at both SPJ & SPS).

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Fourth Form Poetrydeclamation The annual Modern Languages' Poetry Competition this yearbroadened its remit to include Latin declamations for the first time.After the preliminary rounds, each teaching group put forward oneboy to represent it in the competition and 26 boys participated inthe final. The poems selected by them provided a snapshot of avariety of poetic themes and forms, with works ranging fromclassical writers, such as Ovid and Virgil, to well-known Europeanpoets like Victor Hugo, Hermann Hesse, Federico García Lorca andPrimo Levi. The judges commented that the standard ofdeclamations was very high, with boys conveying the meaning andtone of their chosen poem in an authentic turn of phrase. Theeventual winners were: Soufiane Noubir (French) – Demain dèsl’aube; Louis Kirkpatrick (German) – Mondnacht; Kaan Akyol (Italian)– Il Lonfo; George Davies (Spanish) – Paisaje; Benedict Harrison(Latin) – Metamorphosis.

LangUages

senior mathematicalchallenge and Britishmathematical olympiadsuccessesThis academic year has once again seen Paulines achieving enormous success in mathematicscompetitions.

The Senior Mathematics Challenge, held last November, was taken by 266 boys (mostly Sixth andEighth Formers, but also including about 20 Fifth Form pupils) with impressive results: 117 boysreceived a gold award, 78 a silver award and 57 secured a bronze.

Twenty-seven SMC participants qualified for Round 1 of the British Mathematical Olympiad, includingtwo Sixth Form and three Fifth Form pupils. Eight of these achieved a distinction, scoring above 30 outof a possible 60 marks, and Lower Eighth Form boys Navonil Neogi and Julius Zhang achieved a bronzemedal, as did Upper Eighth former Zacharie Sciamma. Julius and Navonil also qualified for Round 2 ofthis competition (as did Fifth Former Alex Kwang), with both of them achieving a further distinction.

Congratulations to all!

mathematics

BeBras WinAnton Fedotov proudly came joint third in his age group in a UK-wide computingcompetition – The UK BEBRASComputational Thinking Challenge – held at the Department of Computer Science at Oxford University on 28 January.

The UK BEBRAS Computational ThinkingChallenge, supported by Google, is designedto get students excited about computing andcomputational thinking.

With 14,402 pupils across the country enteredinto the first round of the Senior age category(Years 10 & 11 for England and Wales), and just 55 top-achieving invited to participatein the final, to place third was an impressiveachievement. Anton received his third placecertificate at a prize-giving ceremony atHertford College.

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Biology olympiad LeadersAt the 2018 British Biology Olympiad 35medals were awarded to Upper EighthPauline biologists. Out of these medals18 were gold, the highest total we havereceived in the history of thecompetition, thus placing St Paul’s as thetop UK school in the competition thisyear. Gold medals are awarded to the top

6.7% of the 7800 pupils who entered thecompetition. The two top-scoringPaulines, Daniel Atkinson and MatteoPerper, have been invited to compete fora place in the UK Olympiad team at theInternational Biology Olympiad thissummer.

BioLogy

Learning From history The Senior Historical Society exists tobring boys into contact with thecountry’s most distinguished scholars,and as a forum for teachers to share their research interests with boys. This term we were mightily fortunate in our speakers: they challengedunderstandings of familiar subjects andalso enthused and advocated on behalfof new ones. The series began withProfessor William Doyle (Bristol) on theTerror. We were privileged to welcomeMr James Barr (KCL), who explored theSykes-Picot Agreement. Professor

Matthew Jones (LSE) gave an absorbinginterpretation of Kennedy’s Vietnam.

Other highlights included a strong doseof intellectual history administered byProfessor John Robertson (Cambridge),as well as an erudite deconstruction ofEnglish churches by Mr Toller (St Paul's).It would be remiss not to mention theinaugural lecture of the Department'slatest signing, Dr Beesley (St Paul's),whose masterfully calibratedreconstruction of Cromwell’s early life went down a storm.

history

skiing in Japan After two flights, a long drive and a nine-hour time difference, the trip finally arrived in Hokkaido. At Niseko ski resort the group soon got stuck into the fresh, champagne powder for which Japan is famous.

Over the next six days the boys toured, jumped, sped, sleighed and slashed the previously untouched, deep, light snow. Dartingthrough the trees in abandoned ski resorts, they glided along theridgelines of mountains and visited the spectacular volcanic hotsprings in the backcountry. Japan was a snow machine that did notturn off, delivering 70cm in one night, and the skiing was unrivalled.At the end of each day tired legs were comforted and refreshed witha warm bowl of teppanyaki or udon in the town. The ski trip to Japandid not disappoint.

niseko triP

space and revolution at the French instituteA group of Paulines studying a range oflanguages, sciences and politics,accompanied by Larissa Lapaire andDavid Hempstead, took part in a live-streamed question time at the FrenchInstitute on 25th January. Cyrus Goodarziand Jonah Vairon attended the SpaceExploration session where Cyrus'squestion on the role of privateinvestment in space exploration led to afascinating discussion with the

astronauts Thomas Pesquet and TimPeake. Roman Rodrigues-Alarcon andNathaniel Moatti contributed to thesession on Revolutions, with specialguest Ken Loach. Roman's suggestionthat "revolution" was such aromanticised term that it would be betterdefined simply as "civil war" led to a livelydebate in what was a very thought-provoking evening.

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illuminating Blake“Printing in the infernal method” was William Blake’s description of his highlyinnovative technique for publishing his own poetry. It took Michael Phillips twenty-fiveyears to work out exactly how Blake managed it and during January, in the historiclibrary of Oxford’s Christ Church, he gave a group of Pauline English students amasterclass on how to print plates from Songs of Innocence and of Experience usingthe same method, materials and infinite patience as Blake. As curator of all the recentmajor exhibitions on Blake and author of numerous books, Michael’s knowledge of thepoet and engraver is second to none and provided the backbone to a challengingseminar on Blake’s use of parody and the impact of life in Lambeth on his mostcelebrated poems. With discussion pitched at university level, Paulines left Oxfordwith a huge amount to bring into their Pre-U studies.

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st Paul’s triumphantat schools’ head

On 12 March a sizeable contingent of Paulinerowers took to their home water for this annualfinale to the winter season’s racing. The 1st VIIIcame first overall by 20 seconds in 16:40.6, setting a course record in the process by a not-inconsiderable seven seconds. The 2nd VIII took a commendable second, with the 3rd VIII winningtheir event. The J16As narrowly took second toWestminster. The J15As suffered heartbreak,

missing out on the bronze medal by 0.1 seconds toShiplake. The J15Bs came 10th, with the J16 quadcoming home 6th.

Much the same cohort will travel to Portugal for a week over the Easter break for the Boat Club’sannual training camp, in search of finer weatherand additional speed ahead of the summer racing.

roWing

U17 indoorheptathlonchampionshipsOn 10-11 March, Philip Kastner (Sixth Form) andGregory Zoppos (Fifth Form) competed in the EnglandU17 Indoor Heptathlon Championships in Sheffield.Both athletes performed admirably, with Philipfinishing 9th overall with 4351 points and Gregoryfinishing 17th with 3546 points, from a field of 26 competitors.

Along the way, Philip set personal bests in all sevenevents including new school U17 records in the longjump (6.41m) and pole vault (2.76m), whilst Gregoryset four new personal bests. This concludes the indoorseason, and all the athletes now look forward to thesummer outdoor season, which kicks off on 21st Aprilwith the trials at Eton.

hmc independent schools’tournament for JudoIt was a strong year at the Independent Schools’Tournament, High Wycombe Judo Centre, onSaturday 24 February. This popular event hasbecome a high point in the Judo Club’s calendarand the four Seniors (16 years+) Balboa (gold),Sciamma (bronze), Evans (5th) and O’Brien(bronze) all performed well, having managed to pass the weigh-in by a narrow margin.

In the Bronze medal fight with Judo CaptainZacharie Sciamma, Roman Evans showed great

determination – only losing after an extension of contest time. In the Intermediate (-16 years)group, Milun Haggipavlou proved his skill inwinning a deserved medal again this year. Theoutstanding performance came in the Under 60 kgSeniors, Vito Balboa gave a very impressive displayof Judo. En route to his Gold medal, the oppositionwere caught either by major throws or footsweeps based on timing and reactions.

JUdo

cricket PreviewAfter some very good winter practice the 1st XI cricketers lookforward to a challenging start to the season with matches againstthe Old Paulines, Eton and Radley prior to the start of term (14 April-16 April).

A squad of fifteen U15 boys are also preparing for their excitingpreseason tour to Sri Lanka which will take place from 29 March to 11 April. This will be excellent preparation prior to themrepresenting Middlesex in the England Schools National U15 Competition.

cricket athLetics

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isaac Wightontakes home theJim dear cupCongratulations to year 10 pupil, IsaacWighton, who as top seed, won the National Schools U15 SinglesChampionships (The Jim Dear Cup)during the last week of Autumn term atthe Queen’s Club. Pictured presentingthe ‘Jim Dear Cup’, on Isaac’s right is Old Rugbian, Richard Montgomery, who himself is a past winner of Nationalschoolboys Rackets, also, on Isaac’s leftis David Kay-Shuttleworth, representing‘Brown Advisory’ sponsors of theChampionships.

racketsmatteo Perpermakes Paulinehistory inracketsDuring the last week of the Autumn termMatteo Perper won the National EliteRackets Singles Championships 'TheFoster Cup', for his most outstandingperformances during the NationalSchools’ Elite Rackets event for the top16 schoolboys in the country. Matteomade school history as he became thefirst Pauline to win this prestigious event,not to mention being the first Pauline inour relatively short history of playingRackets to win any senior event. Matteoalso became the first ‘non-seeded’schoolboy to win this Championshipwithout losing a single game throughoutthe entire tournament.

racketsJasper greenselected foryouth olympicgames rugby QualifierJasper Green has been selected torepresent the USA Sevens Rugby U18and will compete in the Youth OlympicGames Qualifier in Las Vegas later thisyear. He has played for the 1st XV fortwo seasons and will leave us for the USin August. Jasper also played for the USAin the same event last year as an U17. Hecontinues to be a highly rated player,showing his determination anddevelopment.

rUgBytyler andJames selectedfor englandindependentschoolsTyler Payne (back right) and James Street (front) have been selected for the England Independent Schools’ U15 football team and will be heading off on their Scotland tour, while thispublication is in print, on the 3 April 2018.

We wish them every success.

FootBaLL

independent schools cupSt Paul’s played Wellington College in anexcellent 2nd XI final at Larges Lane, home of Bracknell Town Football Club. Wellingtonstarted strongly and took the lead in the first five minutes, via a header following a free kick. St Paul's then dominated the majority of the half,showing lots of quality in possession with Wickenscoring two goals from James and De La RivaBrown crosses to take a 2-1 lead at half-time. A more physical and competitive second halffollowed, with St Paul's creating more threats

and opportunities, and they took a 3-1 leadmidway through the half through a Little header.Wellington fought hard in the last ten minutes ofthe game, creating a few decent opportunities,but were unable to stop St Paul's earning thevictory. This capped off an excellent cup runincluding three wins away to two term football schools.

FootBaLL

season celebrationsRyan Blake's gruellingstrength and conditioningprogramme is paying offas St Paul's came out ontop after extra time, intheir semi-final matchagainst Hampton.

With the game poised at 1-1 and after a scare whenHampton's pacey wingerhit the post up steppedBen Tatters; neat interplayon the left led the ballbeing squared to Ben, justoutside the area. It was allthe invitation he required,thumping a dipping,swerving shot into the far top corner.

All that was left was toclose out the win. Somejitters were dispelled and a composed clearance put De La Riva Brown inbehind Hampton. Decidingthe opportunity was toostraightforward, Luis cutback to bamboozle thecentre back not once but three times beforecalmly slotting past thegoalkeeper. There is greatspirit in this team and I amcertain they will carry thatwith them to the final!

FootBaLL

On 7 February the golf team of HyunYang (Captain), John Richardson andChristian Smith overcame very coldconditions and stiff competition toenjoy victory (2 and ½-1/2 ) overHarrow and by doing so won theRegional Final of the ISGA event for a third year in a row. The teamwill now proceed to the NationalFinals played on 29-30 April at the St Mellion International GC in Cornwall, a Jack Nicklaus designed championship course.

regional golf winthree years running

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From a fibreglass elephant to the skyscrapers ofshanghai – spring term in the milton galleryTo start 2018 the Art department teamed up with SPARTA parents group to create afantastic showcase of artworks lent by SPS and SPJ parents. 'Collections' had a hugevariety of styles and genres; centre-stage was a vibrant, fibreglass elephant as well asa light-up concrete and rubber bench alongside some more traditional ceramic andbronze pieces. On the walls a floor-to-ceiling piece made from brightly colouredtextiles hung next to a tiny Rembrandt etching. The show was such a success that there are plans to repeat this theme again in a few years.

Since Remedy ‘Lovin’ it’ was installed in the gallery. This series of slick, large-formatpictures and film by photographer Adam Hinton looks at the changing face ofShanghai as it becomes a city of fast-paced lifestyles, cutting-edge technology andconsumerism. The Lower Eighth artists benefitted from a talk by the photographerhimself during their art lessons.

art

arts

Barnes youngmusician of the year

mUsiccompetition 2018mUsic

tremendous trombone and Pianoconcert in BarnesOn Friday 2 February, Yang Hsu and Jason Bae (Lower Eighth) performed a memorable lunchtime concert for thelocal charity FiSH in St Michael’s and All Angels Community Centre, Barnes. Yang’s trombone playing of somelighter compositions by Jim Parker was particularly well received, and Jason Bae gave a splendid and movingperformance of the first movement from Schubert’s Piano Sonata in B flat. It was fascinating to meet the audiencemembers afterwards for a light lunch. FiSH combats loneliness and social isolation in older and vulnerable peopleliving in Barnes, Mortlake and East Sheen, enabling them to live independent and dignified lives.

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choral evensongin the dreamingspiresOn Saturday 27 January, the Chamber Choir joined withSPJ Recital Choir to brave the rain and give evensong at Worcester College, Oxford. The evensong, whichincluded music by Walmisley and Maurice Greene, waswell attended by parents, friends and recent Old Paulinesand was an excellent preparation for evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral just a couple of days later.

mUsic

On Sunday 4 March the music department hosted theannual SPS Music Competition. Pauline musicianspresented a wide range of music, which illustrated theirtechnical abilities and musical awareness. The array of musicianship on display was of an exceptional leveland all performers helped turn the event into awonderful festival of music. We were delighted towelcome John York and Marc Dooley to adjudicate thisyear’s competition. John is a distinguished concertpianist and former Head of Keyboard at St Paul's Girls’School and Marc is a respected conductor and musiceditor. Their comments and insights were particularlyvaluable and we are extremely grateful for theircontribution to the day. The winners of each class will now progress to a final round which will be held in the Wathen Hall on Wednesday 18 April.Congratulations to all

On Saturday 10 March, seven Pauline musicians fromthe Fourth and Fifth Forms competed in the BarnesYoung Musician of the Year Competition (TommasoBailo, Eashan Shah, Robert Simmons, Aidan Ferrand,Benjamin Law, Aidan Choi and Calvin Leung). Thiscompetition is part of the annual Barnes Music Festivaland was this year adjudicated by renowned conductorand educator, Hilary Davan Wetton. Mr Davan Wettonwas extremely impressed with the ability of the SPScohort who all acquitted themselves excellently. RobertSimmons received a special commendation from theadjudicator for his fine performance of music by FrankBridge and Calvin Leung won the overall competitionwith a thrilling performance of Rachmaninoff’s Preludein G minor!

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One Man’s TerroristWhat distinguishes a terrorist from a freedom fighter? As thesaying goes: “One Man’s Terrorist…”. In this adaptation of AlbertCamus’ 1947 play ‘Les Justes’, the action (a group of Russianrevolutionaries struggling to define the boundaries of violentpolitical action) is transposed into widely differing, and maybemore familiar, contexts encouraging the audience to engagethrough their own political perspectives in thinking about thedifferences and similarities between contrasting groups; whereas it is not difficult for us to sympathise with members of the Frenchresistance fighting the Nazis, things become very much morecomplicated and challenging when we are asked to understand theTaliban or the IRA. Where appropriate, verbatim and documentarymaterial sourced from printed and recorded interviews withexponents of the various groups was incorporated into the originaltext. A brilliant cast of Lower Eighth pupils brought these differentscenarios alive with remarkable skill and energy, maintainingbeautifully nuanced character development across five differenthistorical moments.

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kafka’s The TrialThe Senior Show’s creative adaptation of Kafka’s The Trial,brilliantly captured the frenzied attempts of one man against theabsurd machinations of the law. The talented Pauline ensembleeffectively became the conscience of the protagonist, Joseph K; the heightened performance style acted as a perfect prism for the surreal and dystopian imagery, capturing K’s shocking descentinto a bureaucratic nightmare of the mind.

Alex Kerr’s talented cast worked tirelessly to bring Kafka’s vision to life, and the actors’ versatility was evident throughout thisinventive and imaginative production. Poignant and pertinent to the end, they ensured the text’s key questions concerningalienation and persecution were as relevant and poignant as they were almost a century ago.

drama

eveningLecture:Leonardo daVinci and‘The Virgin of the Rocks’

On a cold February night, art historian Katy Blattdelivered an enthralling talk to a packed MontgomeryRoom audience of students and parents. Katy brilliantlytraced Leonardo da Vinci’s life, from his humbleillegitimate birth to his death in 1519 in the arms of KingFrancois I of France, one of the most powerfulmonarchs in Europe. She suggested that the twicepainted ‘The Virgin of the Rocks’ was the compositionthat changed Leonardo’s destiny completely, catapultinghim from obscurity to fame. To substantiate her theory,Katy discussed key themes including the historical,political and social situation, patronage and artisticstatus. She talked us through Leonardo’s incrediblejourney into the study of anatomy and humandissection, and his growing interest in Neo-Platonicphilosophy. The two paintings which were considered a product of high culture, with their roots in theFlorentine Renaissance but both painted in Milan, are now housed at the Louvre in Paris and the NationalGallery in London.   

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safe cracking atWeizmann UkThe team of Yang Hsu, ScottHarrington, William Isotta, Tom O’Driscoll, Navonil Neogi,Sam Ritblat and GeorgeWorledge were placed 3rd atthe Weizmann UK safe crackingcompetition out of a very strong

field of 24 teams (seriously high standard this year). Their top three finish qualifiedthem for the InternationalTournament in Israel, wherethey just missed out on the top spots.

engineering

olympic Weightliftingworkshop

On Friday 9 March to conclude the week’sevents in honour of International Women’sDay, Miss Ramsay-Overall put on anOlympic Weightlifting workshop for boysand staff. The workshop, led jointly withLaura Denise Ramsay-Overall, a formerBritish and Trinidadian champion andrecord holder, introduced the boys to thesport of Olympic Weightlifting in thehopes of challenging perceptions ofwomen in sport and teaching them newskills. The boys were put through their

paces and the session ended with acompetition to see which boy could holdan empty barbell in an overhead squat forthe longest. It came down to JonathanRoutley and Christian Smith as the finalcontenders and with 45 seconds on theclock both boys were showing signs ofweakening but at the 50 second markJonathan’s arms grew too weary andChristian was crowned the winner! A fantastic day for all involved.

internationaL Women’s day

speed networking

On Thursday 8 March, the inaugural CareersSpeed Networking event took place in the WathenHall, giving Fifth Form pupils an introduction to arange of professions. Sixty mentors from acrossthe St Paul’s Community connected with the boysover the course of the lunchtime. The mentorsrepresented a range of jobs, including the CEO ofWalt Disney Italy, the EMEA Director of Sales forApple and Beats Headphones, and the Taekwondo

England National Team Coach. This was a valuableopportunity for the boys to gain insights, findinspiration, and to ask those burning questions(though some of the more enterprising boys were disappointed to find their request for freeheadphones declined!). The day proved beneficialfor the mentors too, who were invited to mingleand network afterwards in the Milton Gallery over a light lunch.

careers

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sureLightYoung Enterprise team SureLight, a group of nine Lower Eighth pupils, havedeveloped an innovative smart brake lightfor bicycles. The unique selling point beingthe movement-responsive ‘accelerometer’,SureLight alerts other road users to thecyclist’s change in speed. Their strongsocial media presence has helped to sellSureLight as far as Canada and Australia,share brilliant reviews and gain onlinesales, placing them 3rd nationally and 1st in London in the online competition.

SureLight have also had great success atYoung Enterprise Trade Fairs where theyhave won Best Product, Most InnovativeProduct, Best Presentation, Best SalesTeam and most recently Best OverallCompany. With all this success it is notsurprising that the team hope to expandSureLight further and are in discussionwith TFL, Uber and Deliveroo for bulkorders. To support Surelight visitwww.surelight.bike or follow their journeyat @surelight.uk on Facebook andInstagram or at @surelight_uk on Twitter.

This term the Samuel Pepys Theatre was transformed into a derelict East London warehouse,showcasing a stunning catwalk of New Romantic costumes, for a shattering reinterpretation ofShakespeare’s Measure for Measure. Accompanied by a soundtrack of 1980s hits from the likes of theEurythmics, New Order and Duran Duran, a cast of twenty senior actors took on one of the bard’sdarkest and strangest plays; by turns a bawdy comedy and a chilling tragedy, Measure for Measuresees the Duke absents himself from the city, instructing his pious deputy, Angelo, to rule in his place.Reviving old morality laws but overwhelmed with lust for a novice nun, Angelo sets Isabella animpossible bargain: her chastity for her brother’s life.

In an outstanding ensemble, under the direction of Christian Anthony, particular praise must go to Josh Goldstein as the duplicitous Duke, Tom Zussman as a terrifying Angelo, and Miriam Agiru in aspellbinding performance as the tortured Isabella, with dazzling comic support provided by Will Allenand Harry Cotterell. The production’s shocking climax will live long in the memory of all who saw it.

yoUng enterPrise

sPs come second in thesurrey schools BridgetournamentThe team of Nick Heymann, Julius Bannister, Max Groeller andLiam Reed (Upper Eighth and Lower Eighth) came second in theSurrey Schools Bridge Tournament on 2 February. The RoehamptonClub hosted with over 80 junior bridge players taking part and Club Member, Bridge professional and top selling author PaulMendelson gave a warm welcome and awards.

Bridge

raysafeRaySafe is a company createdby a group of boys in year 11who are taking part in theinternational Young Enterprisecompetition, in which studentsare required to make and run a company for a year. For theirproduct, they have producedRaySafe, a phone accessory to protect users from EMF radiation.

RaySafe is state of the art,ultra-thin and easily fit underany case. It is proven to reduceharmful EMF radiation using

NiCu mesh technology. EMFradiation has been linked to causing cancer, infertility,dementia, insomnia and stress,by scientists from the Universityof Columbia, the Israeli, Indianand Belgian governments andthe World Health Organisation,alongside many others.

The team’s aim is to keep adults and children safe from EMFradiation with RaySafe. To support RaySafe visitwww.raysafe.org.uk.

yoUng enterPrise

shakespeare’s Measure for Measure.drama

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the trading game: deutscheBank visit with george dinenisOn Wednesday 31 January, over 50 people from 5 London schools (SPS, Hammersmith Academy, Greycourt,Burlington Danes and QEB Barnet) gathered in the Wathen Hall. A trading game was run by Deutsche Bank,consisting of a basic model for southern African countries: miners, bankers and car manufacturers worked to try to gain the most money at their stage in the process. The pupils learned about the real-life applicationsof concepts like supply and demand, which they had so far only seen in the classroom. The trading game was followed by two fascinating talks: the first from George Dinenis, a trader from Deutsche Bank, who gavean insight into what his standard work day feels like and advice on applying to top firms. The second talk wasfrom the chief economist at Nomura, George Buckley, who gave his predictions for the UK economy in 2018.The day was very useful; illuminating the career paths that economics can take you down and offering somepriceless analysis of the current UK economy.

taLks

rugby sevensIt has been an excellent term for the Rugby Sevens’teams. The season started with the U14s and U16sboth securing medal positions at the MerchantTaylors’ School Sevens. The U14s won the Platecompetition, whilst the U16s lost in the semi-final of the Cup. The U18s started their seasons campaignat Shiplake College, and after winning the group, they progressed into the Cup competition, beatingBedford School in the semi-final and losing toCheltenham College in the final. Due to the adverseweather conditions, the remainder of the season wasseverely disrupted. Our own Old Pauline Club Sevensprovided the only opportunity to prepare for theRosslyn Park National Schools Sevens (RPNS7’s).

Yet again, St Paul’s performed well at the RPNS7’s.

The U16s had some great performances but lost intheir final game of the day, which denied them theopportunity to make it through to the last 16 teams. It was a similar situation for the U14’s, who also wonthree out of four games. Success was still to come,however, with the U18s who won their group, beatinga strong Bristol Grammar School team in the process.

On day two, the U18s had to overcome another twogroup stages. They won the first group with the pickof their performances against Monmouth School;however, it was to be the semi-final group stagewhere the U18s competition would end. After beating RGS Newcastle, Kingswood School, Bathwould inflict a 24-10 defeat to end a very memorableand successful season.

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resilience talk withJulie JohnsonOn the evening of Tuesday 30 January, about 45 parents of pupils in the Fourth and Fifth Forms attended a PSHE seminar aboutresilience, presented by Julie Johnson. Julie is an experiencedcounsellor, PSHE consultant and trainer.

Julie spoke about the importance of building resilience, and gaveguidance and practical tips on how parents could encourage anddevelop resilience in the lives of their children. As Julie explained, in our increasingly busy and stressful world, the skill of resilience is part of the tool kit that can enable a young person to negotiatethe complexities, stresses and strains of the 21st Century.

Throughout the seminar parents were able to ask questions, and aninformal discussion developed around the key themes. This was thefirst time that Julie had spoken to Pauline parents about this topic,and we were pleased that Julie has delivered another successfulPSHE parents’ seminar at St Paul’s School.

taLks

Pauls4allIn the last week of half term, twocharities came in to thank St Paul’s fortheir fundraising efforts. Stephen HaleOBE of Refugee Action, the Pauls4Allofficial UK charity of 2016/17, came in

to speak to the Eighth Form about thecharity’s work. He was also presentedwith a cheque for over £17,000, a resultof the school's fundraising efforts.Meanwhile, Joan Hare from Sri Lanka’s

Senahasa Trust, came in to take part in our inaugural links school lunch andreceived a cheque for over £5,000 whilstthe school enjoyed some Sri Lankan andZambian food.

charity

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The National Trust has a wonderful list of things youshould do before you are 11 and ¾. A bucket list for ourpre-teen children – what a great idea. I printed it off with enthusiasm and ran through the various categories:adventurer, discoverer, ranger, tracker and explorer. Therewere four items on the list that I have not yet managed toachieve at nearly 50, two of which I suspect I never will.

I then went through the list from a parental perspective.My children at 20, 17 and 14 have missed the deadline forachieving the fifty goals and it was with some sadness thatI realised their experiences were far more limited thanmine. I do not feel that they were in any way deprived aschildren. We spent a lot of time outside and they havecertainly played in the snow, swum in the sea and pickedwild blackberries. But... have they ever rolled down a reallybig hill? I blame that on the fact that they grew up in a veryflat Bedfordshire! What is my excuse for them neverplanting, growing and then eating something? Especiallyas I love to garden.

The world has undoubtedly changed. We now have easy access to a multitude of multi-sensory experiences.My children have enjoyed the theatre. I have visitedgalleries and museums with them. They have travelled tomagnificent places and been to many live concerts. I havedutifully taken them to National Trust properties and theyhave enjoyed historical wonders. However, I have neverlain in the grass with them on a summer day and taughtthem how to make a grass trumpet. I have neverencouraged them to take off their shoes and socks andwalk barefoot, as I did on my uncle’s farm as a child. I havenever encouraged them to make a mud pie – I suspect it istoo late for that now!

I look at the boys at St Paul’s and wonder what theirexperiences have been so far. I did a straw poll with mymaths set. It was an interesting experience. Many of themhad experienced less than 20 of the things on the list and,to be frank, had no interest in exploring the others.

We have recently embarked upon establishing a ForestSchool programme for the boys in the First Years. Thebeauty of Forest School is that it takes the learningoutside, which is where most young boys would like to be.The space allows the boys to focus upon the learning,rather than thinking about containing their physicalexuberance and maintaining a ‘classroom voice’. This isliberating and engaging for them. I am excited for themand I hope that in twelve months’ time those boys will beable to tick off a huge number of things on the list. The hill

rolling, I am afraid, is beyond us on our wonderfully flat fields!

So, next time you are at a loose end with your son, or keento remove him from the gluey world of screen time, whydon’t you try and tick off one or two of the bucket listoptions? I know that your sons would love the experienceand you may surprise yourself at how much fun you have.Childhood is so very precious. In the pressurised world we live in let us not forget the need to have fun!

Maxine Shaw, Head of St Paul’s Juniors

ST PAUL’S JUNIORS neWs

Foreword from the head of st Paul’s Juniors

young geographer of the year 2017

academic triPs

triPscastlehead 15mathematics

challenge 2018 14dramaivan the Fool 13

The Young Geographer of the Year is aneagerly fought competition amongst theboys at SPJ and across our nation. Thisyear, Cory Traynor in the Upper Thirdmanaged to achieve first place,nationally, in the competition. As such,he was fortunate enough to have beeninvited to the Royal Geographical

Society, to receive his award from one ofthe world’s leading explorers. A terrificachievement, putting SPJ Geography welland truly on the map! Congratulationsagain to Cory for his outstanding poster.

inspirational talk by stella mccartney

taLks

Stella McCartney treated the Juniors toan inspiring talk on 27 March, as part ofthe ‘Success Stories’ series. Sharing thestory of her career, Stella highlighted theimportance of harnessing and embracingindividuality, passion and businesssense, declaring it was her differences as an artist, creator and business womanthat gave her the edge to succeed. For her, these differences were identifiedas the uniquely ‘wearable’ style of hercollections and her unwavering passion,

as a lifelong vegetarian, for ethical,environmental products and productionmethods. Stella encouraged the pupils to never stop learning or seeking newpossibilities, urging the boys to pursuegrowing, advancing technologies. Theclear message the boys took away fromthis ‘Success Stories’ talk is that asuccessful career is not a destination but a continuous journey.

50things.org.uk

st Paul’s youth theatre showcaseBoth Wednesday SPYT groups came together in a showcaseperformance at half term, celebrating the work they’d producedsince September. The junior group, under the direction of MissBower, performed a hilarious The Fairy-tale Revolution by ClaireParsons. The comic and confident delivery of character was superb!On the back of that performance, the senior group performed adarker, more sinister twist on the fairy-tale of Hansel & Gretel.Using techniques from Frantic Assembly, the group devised andscripted their own spin on the tale with great effect. A fantasticevening and great demonstration of the work of the Youth Theatre.

sPyt & arts aWard

Upper third Pop-up exhibitions art

The Art departmenttransformed the ConferenceRoom into a makeshift galleryspace in early March toshowcase the results from theUpper Third Art project ‘PortraitPainting in Acrylic’. The ‘double-sided’ self-portraits were basedon the Photo-realist and Pop art techniques utilised byAmerican painters Chuck Close and Alex Katz.

The department hosted twoseparate shows – the first onMarch 6 for the work of U3C, E and W, and the second onMarch 8 for the work from U3P,R and Y. The response fromparents, staff and boys, on bothdays, was one of excitement and surprise!

Mr Simpson, Mr Rowlinson andMr Groom were very proud ofthe work the boys produced forthe show and wish to thankthem all for their hard work –especially all those boys whogave up their lunchtime to givethat little bit extra on theirportraits. The Art departmentwould also like to thank classreps Mrs Yu and Mrs Hunt for all their support and for servingthe refreshments.

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Due to the popularity of the Wednesday group, SPYT are openingtwo new groups on Tuesdays. These will run after school for theLower First year, right through to the Fourth Form at St Paul’s. Allgroups are co-ed and open to any local children who want to beinvolved. To join the waiting list, contact JPB@stpaulsschool.org.uk

new group opening!sPyt

Ivan The Fool & Other Stories that MisbehaveIvan the Fool & Other StoriesThat Misbehave was performedfrom 22-23 March and proved atremendous success. The boysworked immensely hard over the course of the Spring term,bringing to life a script that was written especially for them.With a 72 strong cast, and anexploration of puppetry (withexpertise from Fred Davis –Running Wild & The HartlepoolMonkey), ensemble and physicaltheatre, it was a more ambitiousproduction for this year group,but the challenge has certainlypaid off.

It has to be said that a sterlingeffort was made all round, and the audience were treatedto some truly exceptionalperformances; the Wicked,

Crying and Laughter-less Tsars,a bouldering, brutal Koschey the Deathless, the wickedlycunning Baba Yaga’s and, notforgetting, our large number ofIvans! Of course, it would beunfair to leave it there becauseeveryone, in true SPJ style,worked together to form asuperb ensemble of servants,knights, sea creatures, misfits,townspeople, chicken-leggedhouses, goblins and armies –each played a crucial piece ofthe puzzle. A remarkable effortfrom the boys and the SPJDrama Staff. Congratulations.

dramaLower First springconcert Performance

Both Lower Firstclasses put together a fantastic performanceas their contribution tothe Spring Concerts.Under the direction ofMiss Bower, the groupstook Oh the Places YouWill Go by Dr Seuss,and created their ownstaged adaptation. It was fantastic to seethe boys, at such ayoung age, perform so brilliantly. Thank you to Miss Bower for putting it together,and the boys for doingsuch a terrific job!

mUsic

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Uk BeBras computationalthinking challenge The Juniors also performed well at theUK BEBRAS Computational ThinkingChallenge with Haolin Zhao from St Paul’s Juniors coming third in his agegroup. The UK BEBRAS ComputationalThinking Challenge was held at theDepartment of Computer Science at Oxford University on 11 February. This competition, designed to getstudents excited about computing andcomputational thinking, is a problem-solving contest with questions inspiredby topics in computer science.

Reaching the final is a superbachievement, as 41,372 junior studentsentered and out of those, 53 top-achieving students attended the final for the Junior age group. Other studentsfrom the School who made it to the finalinclude Thomas Wong, Jonah Collett,Chongyang Cao and Teodoro Rossbach.

Each received finalist certificates andHaolin was presented with a third placecertificate at a special prize-givingceremony at Hertford College.

comPUter science

Junior Primary mathschallengeThe Maths Challenge campaign startedin November with the Primary MathsChallenge for all Second Years. Thosewith a high enough score qualified forthe PMC Bonus round sat later in theyear; this year 33 boys made it through. 23 of those boys managed to win aBronze, Silver, or Gold award. Bronzeawards went to Nicholas Vital-Graefinvon Ballestrem, Max Wiseman,Alexander Meyohas, Kamran Baghai,Ferris Chapple, Daniel Taylor, Finn

Johnsson, Raphael Granier-Deferre,Henry Brooke, Sai Singh Bhatia, GusJacobson, Charlie Kirby, Martin Hands,Louis Besson, and Thomas Lefranc.Silver awards went to Vyom Chamaria,Teymour Harandi, Luca Orlandi, SameerShukla, and Kanyin Ishmael.

An impressive three gold awards went toChiran Perera, Aman Parekh, and AdavyaGoyal, putting them in the top 6% ofmathematicians for their age nationally!

mathematics

digital Leaders Digital Leaders is a program run by MissDouglass (SPS Director of Engineeringand ICT) and Ms Flanagan (SPJ Director of Computing), for select studentsinterested in Internet safety and an ambition to educate others.

As part of this initiative Shaan Kotechaand Parker Dougall attended a jointDigital Leaders and Diana Award Event held at the Houses of Parliamentthis term.

During their tour with the MP forRichmond and Kingston, Zac Goldsmith,

Shaan and Parker sat in on a House ofCommons meeting and saw the officesof the PM and Chancellor. Upon theirreturn, the event space was full of MPsfrom all over the country. The mainpoints Shaan and Parker raised centredaround their idea for an interactive online assembly, social media safety,specifically location sharing throughSnapchat and Facebook’s new privacypolicy, which they were able to discussdirectly with its representatives at theevent. Overall a successful day!

internet saFety

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Feats of engineering engineering

After a double lesson thatcovered the fundamentals ofdrawing in two pointperspective, theLower Seconds were by nomeans masters of thetechnique, but they did comemightily close.

It is no easy feat to deftlycapture the nuances ofperspective that characteriseminimalist contemporaryarchitecture, but two sketches(above), in particular, managedto take the monochrome hulk todistinctly new depths.

Apollo Andreichuk and SamFrancombe, both of L2J, stoodout among their peers, withtheir contrasts in shadingproving key to ensuring theirefforts did not leave the housejust a skeletal frame butbringing the design to life.

Upper seconds aboard thehms VictoryThe Upper Seconds had a great time at the HistoricNaval Dockyard in Portsmouth on 5 February. Theyexplored Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory, saw theremarkable 500-year old Mary Rose and did a workshopcritically examining the artefacts that were brought upfrom the seabed along with the Tudor shipwreck.

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castlehead 2018The boys in the Lower Third enjoyed a marvellous week in the Lake District, investigating the impact ofTourism on the National Park. In particular, boys wereencouraged to interview visitors to Bowness, borderingLake Windermere, to understand where they werecoming from and their motivations for being there. Theboys were thrown into the study and worked tirelesslyon their fieldwork skills to ensure they collected robustdata to aid them in their write up on their return.Likewise, the boys enjoyed examining some of theexciting physical Geography on show in the Lakes, fromthe glaciated landforms in the hills to the coastal erosionat Humphrey Head. There is no doubt that Geographycame alive on this trip and the boys returned betterGeographers, full of knowledge of the Lake District and its importance; both for conservation and as amechanism to educate. Thank you to all the members of staff who made this trip possible.

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Lower second Visit harry Potter studiosThis year's trip to Harry Potter Studios was as magicalas ever with the boys immersing themselves in the spells and mysteries from both the wizarding andfilmmaking world.

“Going to the Harry Potter Studios was the most mind-boggling experience. We had our picture taken in thereception area, before wandering curiously through themuseum and witnessing the most incredible, magical, eerie objects, that the filmmakers used for the Harry Pottermovies! We boarded the Hogwarts train. We saw thenotorious cupboard under the stairs where poor Harrylived at no.4 Privet Drive, and even wandered around theDursleys’ house. Feeling exhilarated, we leapt on to thevast, purple Knight Bus and enjoyed ringing the bell. Lastly,we visited the well-stocked gift shop, which had manyamazing items. There were Harry Potter wands, toyHedwigs and, if you were feeling extravagant, you couldeven buy a shiny replica of the Golden Snitch! Overall,great fun was had and I would highly recommendgoing!” – Krishnan Tombolis

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grand Prix migrosskiing

It is easy to get complacent at times when reporting about St Paul’sJuniors school sport, whether in The Grapevine or the termly

newspaper. Success on the sports field is commonplace and goodresults are often expected, which is generally reported on. It is

no different then this term to report that the football is goingwell with a seventy six percent win ratio, no mean feat on a

tough circuit. However, it is especially nice to be able toreport on successes other than those in the major games

and we are delighted to share some good news aboutsuccess on the ski slopes, particularly topical given the

recent weather conditions in London. Lorenzo Massi ofthe Lower Third recently competed in the prestigious

skiing event, the Grand Prix Migros, Adelboden.Skiing in the ‘2005 boys’ category, Lorenzo

competed against a number of boys who live near the ski slopes, including the winner of the

Switzerland Grand Prix Migros for the last fiveyears. A superb result for Lorenzo. The School

is very proud of his achievement.

Quiz night On Wednesday 7 February, over 150 parents and staff cametogether for an annual tradition in the SPJ calendar – Quiz Night! It was a great evening with each table serving up some deliciousfood. Teams could decorate their tables and we had two standoutson the night – Winning Hearts and Minds with a Valentine’s Daytheme and Up 2 No Good celebrated the Arabian Nights.

The evening was incredibly lively, with healthy competition betweenparents of all year groups and all those teachers’ tables – three ofthem in total! Tied in joint second were the teams Simple Minds andHeads We Win, the teachers' table that boasted a magnificent Legocenterpiece courtesy of the boys from L1A. However, the ultimatewinners by 4 points were the staff team named The Lip Readers,claiming the prize of champagne and the honour of SPJ Quiz NightChampions 2018!

Parents’ groUP

thinking Breakfast Lower and Upper thirdThis term the Thinking Breakfast continued to be well-attended byboys from the Lower and Upper Thirds, ravenous for debate anddiscussion (and the odd croissant or two!). We have discussedtopics ranging from social media and freedom of speech to the rightto bear arms. Whilst the boys’ opinions have often differed theywere nearly unanimous in their belief that people should be heldaccountable for what they post online, even from a very young age,and that it would not be wise to arm teachers (!)

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The winning Theology and Philosophy Ethics essaywas written by Jude Carter – U3C and the titlewas, ‘Is it ever right for animals to suffer at thehands of humans?’ The competition was externallyadjudicated by Professor Clive Page, Professor ofPharmacology at King’s College London and Headof Sackler Institute of Pulmonary Pharmacology.

Here is the conclusion to Jude’s essay:‘I believe that it is unacceptable for animals to sufferor die at the hands of humans, except in special

circumstances such as where human life is at riskand in particular where there is an opportunity tosave many lives, whether animal or human.

However, I do also believe that we have a moralduty to look after animals in the best way, and tominimise any suffering involved as far as possible. I hope that in the future, alternative methods toanimal testing, and more humane ways of killinganimals for food will become much more viable andthat this will leave no reason for animal suffering.’

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23 March marked the official end of the rugbyseason with the Rosslyn Park National Sevens, the largest tournament of its type in the world.This was a splendid contest with the final U13 VIImatch against Caldicott. Six tries to two in victoryisn’t really reflective of this pulsating game as ouropponents were a constant threat and we had todefend hard to stop them flooding through theline. Nevertheless, unbeaten at the NationalSevens is no mean feat and another indicator of an excellent year of code for these boys. They will be a strong unit next year as they move up to Big Side.

This term also saw the U11s return to RosslynPark to defend their National Sevens title won lastyear. Finding themselves in a competitive set offixtures and having had a poor regular season, thiswas a real test of the boys’ character. Their finalencounter was with Whitgift, one of the top sportsschools in the country. In a tensely contestedmatch our boys played exceptionally well, as didWhitgift, but a creditable draw after coming backfrom two tries down, saw the spoils at the end ofthe tournament go to St Paul’s Juniors, thereforemeaning the school retains the title of NationalSchools U11 Champions. Well done boys – proof of what you are capable of!

national rugby sevens at rosslyn Park

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Jude (Centre) with runners up Joseph (Left) and Lucus (Right)