TITLE HERE 1 THE SALOPIAN Issue No. 157 - Winter 2015 he death on Friday 11th December of Michael Schützer- TWeissmann has formed a melancholy coda to the Michaelmas CONTENTS term. For his family, for the English faculty - which Mike headed Academic News 4 for 17 years from his arrival at the school in 1988 - for generations of former pupils, and for the whole current school community, the City on a Hill 6 loss of an extraordinary man, whose humanity, wit and wisdom Salvete 8 enriched so many lives will be irredeemable. Valete 9 Spanish Study visit to Argentina 12 In Mike were wedded harmoniously a towering moral strength Classics Trip to Greece 13 with the deepest humanity. Prodigiously well read, and a profound Drama 14 thinker on matters both spiritual and temporal, he combined Evensong at The Queen’s College 16 the scholarship of a don with a disdain for pretentiousness and Leavers concert 17 intellectual humbug. An innate respect for his fellow men – I House Singing 18 never heard him speak ill of anyone – was, perhaps ironically, Shrewsbury in Malawi 18 allied to a Swiftian sense of satire. Nowhere was this seen to better Expedition to Guyana 19 advantage than in his now rather poignantly named Shakespearian Pringle Trophy 23 pastiches As You Leave Us and Lots Leave us Lost written for private Old Salopians in WWI 24 performance at leaving parties for fellow English Faculty members Life beyond Shrewsbury 26 held at Marycourt, a frequently-used haven for so many of us from Relaunch of the Rovers 28 the hurly-burly of day-to-day Salopian life. Cricket 29 Tennis 37 Countless Salopians owe much of their ‘real’ education to time RSSBC 38 spent in his architectural seminars, the legendary Building Society, RSSH 41 tapping into his vast knowledge of French wine, or, in the case of Athletics 44 the School’s Roman Catholic contingent, simply chatting to him Equestrian Success 45 over lashings of bacon and eggs in Marycourt after early Sunday Hockey 46 Mass in the Cathedral. In so many ways Mike was paterfamilias to Shrewsbury School Foundation 47 the Common Room as well as to his extensive family, to whom we Director of the Salopian Club 48 send our warmest good wishes. Salopian Club Events 49 News of Old Salopians 51 David Gee’s City on a Hill, published in September and reviewed Arts & Activities Committee 55 by both Martin Knox and Professor Colin Leach in the following Old Salopian Biologists 55 pages, implicitly invites readers to reflect on change and constancy The Making of a Runner 56 in the Salopian scene. The idea that the “The One remains, the Sponsored charity row 57 many change and pass” - a spell well-known to anyone brought up Cycling across Europe 58 at the knees of Frank McEachran – lies at the heart of this portrait, Old Salopian Football 59 written by a man whose understanding of Shrewsbury is unrivalled. Old Salopian Yacht Club 61 Values held dear by Mike Schützer-Weissmann - decency, humanity Sabrina 62 and gratitude for the gift of life - are unchanging. Never indeed Old Salopian Hunt 64 have they seemed so important than today, when we consider the Old Salopian Golfing Society 66 wider world beyond the bounds of Shrewsbury School. Saracens 69 Publications 71 Within the Shrewsbury microcosm, we can see those values Obituaries 72 illustrated in the heartwarming tale accompanying the adjacent picture, which I feel Mike would have enjoyed. The first two are evident in the actions of the sheep’s rescuers, the last, one must assume, is being instinctively felt by the sheep himself, if only he were able to articulate it. Editor Richard Hudson I will leave readers to extract whatever symbolism they can from Churchill’s Hall, Shrewsbury School, the front cover photograph. The platform seems solid enough, but Shrewsbury SY3 7AT perhaps it might be better just to enjoy the view! 01743 280630 [email protected] Assistant Editor Annabel Warburg Obituaries Editor Front Cover: Guyana Expedition 2015, Kaieteur Falls. Martin Knox Salopian Club Inside Front cover: As members of the newly relaunched Rovers Club kayaked and canoed down Nick Jenkins (Director) the Severn on Field Day, a drowning sheep was spotted in the river standing neck deep in the water, Old Salopian Club, The Schools, which he looked as if he had been in for several hours, unable to climb up the steep bank to his Shrewsbury SY3 7BA home field. Manhandled into a canoe, he was released up a rather easier bank on the opposite side 01743 280891 (Director) of the river which he eventually scrambled up, gradually regaining strength in his legs. 01743 280892 (Administrator) mail to: [email protected] The farmer will wonder how his opposite-bank-neighbour’s sheep has ended up in his flock: there Design: www.grand-design.eu are no bridges between Montford Bridge and Welsh Bridge along this 17km stretch of the river! Print: www.lavenhampress.com 4 SCHOOL NEWS Academic News Exam results This year, we celebrated our best ever A Level results, with Physics and Chinese. All 12 pupils with offers from 86.1% of the exams awarded the top A*, A or B grades and Oxford or Cambridge Universities achieved the required 25% of all exams gaining the top A* grade. There were grades to meet their offers. many individual success stories, not least the 19 pupils who gained at least three A* grades and the 55 pupils who The School’s AS results from the Lower Sixth pupils gained an A* or A in all their subjects. were also impressive, with 65% of grades achieved at A or B grades. 38 pupils gained A grades in all their Both last year’s joint Heads of School, James Plaut and subjects and 80 gained nothing less than a B. Esmé O’Keeffe, gained an A* in each of their subjects. James was studying English, Geography and History, whilst Esmé Lower Sixth Examination prizes were awarded to the studied French, History, Latin and Spanish. Impressive too following candidates who achieved outstanding scores was the performance of Ronald Chen who gained six A* in their AS subjects: grades, in Maths, Further Maths, Biology, Chemistry, A. Arridge (Rb) S. Hazar (I) H.F. Partington (PH) T.C. Breese (PH) B.G. Jones (S) A. Pototskaya (G) G.W. Cabral (Ch) L.B. Kell (EDH) M.R. Pownall (MSH) N.J. Chen (I) T. Lam (MSH) B.E. Sansom (PH) X. Chen (MSH) K.L. Lee (M) V.U. Taujanskaite (MSH) A. Chumbala (SH) L.J. Mattinson (Rb) A. Vechamamontien (M) T.H. Dodd (Rb) H.A.P. Newbould (Ch) Y. Xu (EDH) F.T. Galbraith (EDH) O.C. Papaioannou (EDH) T. Zhou (EDH) It was also another strong year for GCSE results, with a European gold medal as part of the GB eventing team. 64.3% of the exams awarded an A* or A grade and over (see page 45) a third of all exams (34.8%) awarded the top A* grade. Six pupils, Nicholas Davis, Mathew Hedges, Ben Jones, After the GCSE examinations, Honorary Scholarships Andrew Kim, Fintan Simmons and Thomas Tulloch, each were awarded to: R.W.A. Carter-Motley (Rt), M.W. Hedges gained 10 straight A* grades, and 30 pupils gained either (Rb) and A.D. Howells (MSH) and Honorary Exhibitions A* or A grades in all their subjects. Thomas Tulloch’s were awarded to: E.M.C. Plaut (S) and M.J.B. Yale (S). other major achievement during the summer was winning GCSE Examination prizes were awarded to candidates with an outstanding number of A* grades: R.A. Arkwright (O) H. Kim (S) R.F. Smith-Langridge (EDH) A.J. Aslam-Baskeyfield (Rb) R. Lim (MSH) C.M. Speed (I) W.S. Bedson (Rb) J.J. Mattinson (Rb) A.K.C.O. Stock (I) J.S. Bray (Rb) M.H.J. Morris (Rb) J.S. Thevathasan (PH) E.L. Chapman (Rb) S.K. Randawa (MSH) A.J. Thomason (Rt) P. Cope (Ch) M.J.B. Redhead (MSH) T.A.W. Tulloch (Rt) N.W. Davis (PH) L.H.E. Robb (MSH) S. Williams (O) B.M.W. Jones (Rb) S.T.F. Russell (Ch) E.G. Kerr (EDH) F.J.J. Simmons (Ch) SCHOOL NEWS 5 Academic Extension Programme Cambridge Chemistry Challenge 2015 The Academic Extension Programme is intervention in Afghanistan, the rise of a new initiative, designed to challenge ISIS and the current migration crisis. At the end of the Summer academically ambitious pupils to think Each pupil in the group was given a term and after a busy AS exam beyond the confines of their studies copy of Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant schedule, a group of Lower and to broaden their horizons. It is Fundamentalist, which was the topic Sixth students entered the 2015 compulsory for Academic Scholars but of discussion in the second half of term. Cambridge Chemistry Challenge. it is also open to any pupil; we are They performed remarkably well, delighted that a considerable number In November we were delighted to amassing a total of eight Gold, of other intellectually curious boys and welcome Major General Richard Nugee, 20 Silver and 27 Copper medals girls have chosen to take part in this Assistant Chief of Defence Staff and – which topped even last year’s year’s programme, which focuses on the Defence Services Secretary, who gave excellent results. Middle East. a fascinating lecture on ‘Should Britain intervene against the Islamic State?’ Set by an experienced team of At the beginning of the Michaelmas teachers and university chemists, the term, a group of Fourth and Fifth Next term we look forward to a talk by paper is designed to be accessible Formers were given an overview of Tim Marshall, former Diplomatic Editor to Lower Sixth students but also to the complexity and diversity of the of Sky News, who will offer his unique take them significantly beyond the various modern conflicts in the region, viewpoint on the situation that the syllabus and encourage them to starting with the Iraq Wars, through to Middle East faces.