KES CHRONICLE 2003 THE ANNUAL MAGAZINE OF KING EDWARD'S SCHOOL, BIRMINGHAM Chronicle 2003 CONTENTS Hellos 5 Goodbyes 14 Features 19 Drama 37 Music 43 Words 49 Pictures 57 Trips 65 Houses 80 Societies 87 Sport 91 KES CHRONICLE 2003 Chronicle THE EDITORIAL TEAM Heilos Alex Vakil Goodbyes Alex Vakil Features Joe Speight Drama Sareet Shàh Music Giles Urwin Words Oliver Mitchell Trips George Readings Matthew Siddons Houses Ravi Gogna Societies Toks Oyebode Sport Harry Hecht Andrew Holmes Anish Ratei Cover Rob Hill Back Cover Elliot Weaver Banners Alex Martin Jonathan Chan Rob Hill Staff Tom Hosty INTODUCTION Page 3 KES CHRONICLE 2003 THANKS I should like to begin by congratulating this year's éditorial team. They have been the best with whom I have yet had the pleasure of working: well-motivated, cheerful and independent, they have taken full responsibility for their sections from the first day and have seen them through to completion with impressively little fuss and bother. Very well done, gentlemen, I salute you ail. Thanks must go, as always, to the Resources Centre staff for turning the editore' layouts into finished pages and arranging for the actual printing of the magazine you hold. This is the first Chromcle for many years which has not been put together largely by Diane Smith, who left the Resources Centre this year: I cannot let the moment go by without recording my debt, and that of several previous editore of the magazine, to that lady's good-humoured expertise. Sincere thanks, though, to Fred and Sandra for carrying on the good work. I should like to thank Bradley Spencer for the Pictures section, the section banners and the cover, and also various colleagues in the Modem Languages and Classics departments for their assistance with items written in languages other than English. Special thanks, as always, go to Chris Boardman, who took many of the photographs. Finally, as always, I thank everyone in the school who wrote for this Chromcle. There were a few disappointments: for the first time in âges, two House reports came in too late for actual inclusion in the magazine, and several other items only just slipped under the door as it closed. But Chromcle remains what it was set up to be: not merely a school magazine but a further instalment in the unfolding history of King Edward's School, a compendious record of much of what goes on here. Well done ail of you for your additions to that record. TFPH KES CHRONICLE 2003 Debbie MacMillan - Chemistry Chronicle: What have you done with your talents and interests seem catered for. life before coming to KES? There is a lot of music, and the few productions that I've seen so far have Miss MacMillan: After I left been of an extremely high standard. Edinburgh University with my There are many différent societies chemistry degree, I went to that the boys can go to, so that a Durham University to start my good balance between work and PhD I was studying there for activities can be achieved. three years before I came here. I hear that the summer drags numerous teachers out to the Tell us about your PhD project. tennis courts, so I shall probably give that a go if I'm not too busy. I My PhD is about Nuclear Magnetic think that it's always nice when the Résonance of solids like teachers get involved as well. adamantane and urea-alkane complexes, looking predominantly at What do you get up to in your spare proton, carbon and fluorine spectra. time? What are your first impressions of KES? Since starting work I haven't really had much spare time. However I like to walk, be outdoors and I really I didn't really corne to KES with any expectations; I'd like to be by the sea: Birmingham is a bit too busy for never actually heard of the school, having been me. Coming from Scotland, I've been trying to travel hrought up in Scotland. Here, the boys are generally and see a bit of England, which I don't know very well. well behaved but, obviously, with it being an all-boys Also I am hoping to start to play golf in the summer. school, there is the occasionai disorderly moment. The atmosphère is quite variable between the years, Have you any plans for the future? with the older boys being much more studious and stressful. Overall, however, I'm enjoying my time I think that my plans are to continue teaching and to here. enjoy teaching as much as I've done so far. I want to encourage the boys and help them feel really What do you think about the extra curricular activities comfortable with chemistry at KES. In the short term, on offer to the boys and teachers at KES? I'm hoping to finish my PhD I have no long-term plans at the moment, but I hope to stay here for a few years. There seems to be a very broad range available and ail Miss MacMillan, thank you very much HELLOS Page 5 KES CHRONICLE 2003 Lynn Seamark - Art (part time) Chronicle: Could you tell us a little about your childhood? Miss Seamark: I was born and grew up in Luton, a funny oíd place with not a lot going on. I didn't look back when I left for college! What I did not realise or appreciate at the time was how multicultural the comprehensive which I attended was. I feel privileged to have benefited from that mix of experiences and it is something I really notice when I look back. Where else have you taught? Only at Small Heath school, which was obviously very different. I found that it was a very tight-knit community, which I liked, but it had a catchment área which was not as mixed as I would like it to be in a perfect world. I feel that it is very beneficial for pupils to grow up interacting with, and discovering more about, a mixture of cultures. What were your first impressions of KES? What would you I was immediately made to feel very welcome by all say to people who claim that Art is an easy subject? the staff, not just by those in the Art department. Sadly, this does not happen at all schools. I think it They obviously haven't seen just how much time was very special that so many people took the time and effort is required of all those taking it! It isn't all to go out of their way and accept me into the school about sitting down with a paintbrush: the history community. and theory of art are now taught at all levéis, making it a more academic subject as weil. Why did you choose Art, and why do you think What do you do in your free time? those considering taking it should do so? Unsurprisingly, art features prominently here. I I think that there is a fundamental need in everyone have a studio in my garage, in which I like to do to be in some way creative, whether they're creating ceramics, the area of art in which I trained, as well art or appreciating it. Some people do not realise as some painting. I read a lot, especially novéis by just how much art surrounds us all the time. It's not Stephen King and Tolkien, and I like going to the just about muséums and art galleries. It is an gym. The other passion in my life, other than art, is essential part of life whether it is in a science my cats. I have six already and would be prepared textbook, on a football strip, in a film or in the to take on more if I saw one in distress. home. I also feel that for a rounded éducation it is vital to develop both the académie and artistic sides Finally, are you going to disappear after one year of pupils. like a number of part-time teachers before you? That is, unfortunately, not up to me. I would Do you think KES achieves a good balance between certainly stay if I were offered an extensión to the the two? one year contract I have at present. It all depends on the numbers taking Art at GCSE and A level. Due to the options system in place here, it is easier for pupils to take Art in balance with their more Miss Seamark, thank you very much. académie subjects than I have seen at some schools. HELLOS Page 6 KES CHRONICLE 2003 Stephen Parker - Modern Languages Chronicle: Could you tell us a little about your life before you came to KES? Mr Parker: I was born in Bradford and came to Birmingham University to study French. I also studied psychology and Italian. I've taught in several schools in Birmingham: in Sutton Coldfield, Erdington and Yardley. I retired early and took a job at St George's, which was the first time I'd taught at an independent school. I taught there for five years. I was thinking about stopping teaching altogether when I heard of the job at KES and was lucky enough to be appointed. What made you change your mind about retirement? Lots of different things, really. My three daughters were all educated at KEHS and I've always had a great affection for both schools, although I knew the Girls' School much better. As my daughters were involved in musical and theatrical productions, I felt I knew a little bit about the boys' school, but that I'd like to know more.