The Review 2018
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The Review 2018 “The object of The Corporation shall be to provide at the School an education of the highest class” (Royal Charter) Chairman of the Governing Body Mr R Ringrose | Head Mrs S Kerr-Dineen MA (Cambridge) Bursar and Secretary to the Governing Body Mr DJ Toriati MA OBE Front Cover : Flight by Chloe Leong (D 18) Upper2 Sixth A level Art Exhibition, Yarrow Gallery Introduction from The Chairman Robert Ringrose Chairman of the Governing Body It is a privilege to introduce the fifth edition of The Review, a publication introduced by the Governing Body in 2014 to report on, and reflect upon, progress against our objectives, whilst providing a concise summary of The Corporation of Oundle School’s financial expenditure and income generation. Compiling The Review offers a valuable opportunity to 1879-1883 Headship of ‘No playing field, no boarding consider what constitutes ‘an education of the highest School’ culminated in the introduction of a sporting class’. It is notable that under Sarah Kerr-Dineen’s curriculum, to the beginning of the 20th century when thoughtful leadership, our values as a School are utmost Oundle was put firmly on the map of leading English in everything we set out to achieve. Pupils are genuinely public schools by its most famous headmaster, FW central to every decision made and as I reflect upon Sanderson, who established its reputation as one of the this year’s highlights, it is clear that this commitment to great science and engineering schools. generations of Oundelians stands the School in the best In this vein, 2017/18 was a period of significant pastoral possible stead to prepare pupils for a successful and development for Oundle, culminating in the completion of meaningful adulthood. Scott House, a new Day House for First and Second Form The beginning of the year saw the opening of new adjoining The Berrystead, the junior Boarding House. Politics, Economics and Psychology classrooms in the The creation of the House, together with the new role of old Coach House, as well as the opening of new tennis Head of Lower Years extending across First Form to Third and netball courts as part of the Sports MasterPlan. The Form, strengthens the School’s vision of ensuring expert new athletics track was completed by the end of the year specialist provision and a smooth senior school transition and in March 2018, construction of the new Sports Centre for the youngest pupils. commenced with an opening date of 2020. The carefully Wise and careful counsel remains the cornerstone of considered design of the facilities will support sport at a Oundle School stewardship and I am confident that top competitive level whilst catering for a multitude of the Governing Body is well qualified to provide such sports and leisure activities for pupils at all levels. The guidance. We maintain a sharp focus on finances and dual nature of the Sports Centre will also aid the School in strategic planning as the School continues to deliver meeting its financial objectives through offering various upon its objectives and we are to be grateful to all those revenue streams. members of the Oundle community who continue to Facilities must of course, never be created in isolation. It support the Corporation. is the vision driving their development for which Oundle has long been renowned, from the days of Headmaster The Rev. Henry St. John Reade whose rule during his 3 Objective 1 To Deliver a Distinctive and Outstanding Preparation for Life Developing the character of pupils beyond the intellectual and cultural life of the School beyond the classroom is a distinctive hallmark of an Oundle limits of exam syllabuses and any scholarship awards education. Pupils continue to be challenged already held. Focus on ensuring the co-curriculum intellectually outside the examined curriculum, whilst programme suits the twenty-first century, as well as performance at GCSE, Pre-U and A level remains giving children time and space to maintain healthy strong across all subjects. This year fifteen pupils were minds and bodies, remains a constant. awarded Arts Exhibitions for contributions to the Academic Life of Learning Assemblies include: The Trivium and Quadrivium programme is the cornerstone of Oundle’s unexamined curriculum. All Third Form pupils undertake Trivium in small sets What the FTSE 100 over two periods a week, rigorously exploring off- Index can tell us about curriculum topics for the sake of pure interest and life critical thinking. Quadrivium, an alternative option to the examined AQA Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), offers Lower Sixth pupils around ten bespoke Something from course options, all written by Oundle staff and taught over three periods a week. It prepares pupils nothing – a brief look expressly for university teaching and learning, with at creativity four Oxbridge tutorial-style essays throughout the year, including lab notes or ethical discussions for the Science-based courses. This year has seen significant development of Life of Rhetoric and the Learning, an ethos that extends across all departments great orators and year groups, including Scholars who enjoy a bespoke programme of evening talks and workshops called Colloquium, and are expected to demonstrate academic leadership amongst their peers. It introduces all Oundelians to cultural experiences and ideas that The power of have the potential to shape their lives, encouraging them to consider varying views on critical world issues words of political, ethical or spiritual importance. First and Second Forms have been given a dedicated period in the timetable to read and record their thoughts, whilst a new programme of fifteen-minute afternoon The Grand Project assemblies run by various staff has been rolled out across all year groups to complement the extensive What will yours be? range of external talks run by academic societies. 119 EPQ Projects submitted All 197 Third Form pupils planned and completed separate UK day trips on a single LLower Sixth pupils chose to study 20 day as part of Trivium 60 QQuadrivium 4 A level and Pre-U IGCSE/GCSE Across all examinations, over one in five grades This year just over half of all grades awarded were (23%) was A* or equivalent and for the fifth year in based on the traditional A*-E system whilst the succession, the A*-B cumulative percentage was above others were based on the new 9-1 system. 80% at 85%. At Pre-U, 9% of the grades attracted the D1 Of those exams with the 9-1 grading, over 33% were grade, which identifies the highest performing pupils. awarded the top grade of 9. 42% recorded A* or A 92% of all Pre-U examinations taken were awarded equivalent grades in all of their exams and 24 pupils Distinction or Merit grades. (13%) achieved all A* grade equivalents. For the seventh year 23% running, over half of all A* at A level A* grades were awarded D1/D2 at Pre-U A* (or equivalent) pupils were awarded Senior Academic 33 Exhibitions on the basis 59% 9% of their results A*/A at A level 29% D1/D2/D3 at Pre-U 58% received A* grades received A*/A grades 85% 82% A*/A/B at A level In subjects taken by over ten candidates, A* GCSE D1-D3/M1/M2 at results were particularly strong in: Pre-U Greek 86% English Literature 77% Pupil performance was strong across all subjects. In examinations taken by more than five candidates, over 30% secured A* performance or equivalent in: English Language 76% Further Mathematics 52% Latin 72% Pre-U Chemistry 44% Chinese 68% Classical Greek 43% Biology 67% Physics 65% History 38% Latin 36% Pre-U Physics 35% 5 Top 10 Russell Group pupils 17 University Destinations 76 achieved 16 100%application 15 acceptances 14 The average offer 13 rate was 11 3.82 (out of 5 applications) 7 6 6 5 Oxford Durham UCL Imperial Warwick Cambridge Exeter Edinburgh Newcastle Bristol Pupils took up places at 41 university 19 destinations in the UK and in 6 other countries gained places worldwide. They applied for 76 single and 30 at Oxford or different joint honours courses. Cambridge* *One pupil declined her place in order to take up an offer at a US university. There has been a steady rise in recent years in applications to American universities, with Oundle now working closely with a US University Specialist Consultancy to help prepare pupils. The breadth of degree subjects for both UK and overseas applications is striking, whilst Modern Languages and Engineering continue to flourish following recent investment in facilities. 6 Modern Languages STEM 19 pupils applied for six different language courses: STEM subjects taken all together (Biology, Chemistry, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Russian and Chinese, Physics, Mathematics, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, with combinations including Latin, History, History of Dentistry, Natural Sciences, Human Sciences, Art and Business. 80 applications were made, with 71 Engineering, Computer Science and Psychology) were offers received and therefore a success rate of 90%. applied to by 52 pupils, making 283 applications, of which 224 were successful (79% success rate). Most popular degree subjects 1. Economics (inc PPE) 26 pupils 2. Biological Sciences (inc Medicine) 21 pupils 3. Politics 20 pupils 4. History (inc Ancient History) 20 pupils 5. Engineering 15 pupils 6. Modern Languages 13 pupils *One pupil declined her place in order to take up an offer at a US university. The Co-curriculum There are three development strands to Oundle’s co-curriculum, all of which seek to provide a broad range of enriching opportunities that foster growth, responsibility, tough-mindedness and excellence. Service Leadership & Creativity & Adventure Culture 7 Combined Cadet Force (CCF) The CCF continues to offer pupils weekly training Cadets attended a ski trip opportunities in the six Sections: Royal Navy, Army, 62 to the Alps RAF, Adventure Training, Fire and Rescue and Marching Band.