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ASHVILLIAN SOCIETY UPDATE • ISSUE 71 • SummerV IL 2020-21L H I A ISSUE S N A 71 S O Y UPDATE C E T SUMMER 2020-21 I ALSO INSIDE FAREWELL FROM THE ACTING HEAD OA TAKES ON EVEREST CHARITY CHALLENGE SOCIETY’S SECOND ONLINE AGM BOARDING: A HOME FROM HOME IN CHALLENGING TIMES INTRODUCING THE COLLEGE’S ELEVENTH HEAD An exceptional Head, who has played a key role opening schools in China and America and held the top position at England’s leading girls’ boarding school, has been appointed as the College’s new Head. Mrs Rhiannon Wilkinson, who will become the eleventh, and first female Head, was the unanimous choice of the Board of Governors. Her appointment comes following the sad death of the tenth Headmaster, Richard Marshall, who died last November aged 48 of cancer. (Continued on page 6) 01 ASHVILLIAN SOCIETY UPDATE • ISSUE 71 • Summer 2020-21 WELCOME FROM THE EDITOR DAVID SIMISTER JUNE 2021 It gives me very great pleasure to welcome you to our latest Update, and as always, I hope you find its content of interest and helps to reconnect you with the College. In the 2020-21 Winter Update, we paid a heart-felt tribute to Ashville’s tenth Headmaster and Honorary Ashvillian, Richard Marshall, who sadly passed away last November. In this edition, we welcome his successor, Rhiannon Wilkinson, who becomes Ashville’s eleventh and first female Head, and of course an Honorary member of the Ashvillian Society. We look forward to welcoming her to the Society and getting to know her in due course. As we go to press, we are all hopeful that the Government’s revised ‘Covid roadmap’ holds true. If life does return to normal from Monday, July 19, and lockdowns are a thing of the past, we can once again plan ahead for our lunches and dinners, something we have all missed. Sadly, we won’t be able to host our AGM in person, so for the second year running it will be held via Zoom. As usual, my thanks go to Ashville’s marketing team for their assistance in producing Update. On behalf of the Society, I’d like to congratulate the College’s Director of Marketing, Helen Stroud, and her husband on the arrival of their second child. Helen is now on maternity leave, and we look forward to her return next year. And finally, please do keep the Society informed of your news, personal and professional, and we will be delighted to share it with fellow OAs, via the pages of Update. SOCIETY OFFICERS Kirstin Barnes Honorary Secretary Ian Brown [email protected] President [email protected] David Simister Beth Hartwell Update Editor Vice-President [email protected] [email protected] Simon Donkin Helen Stroud Immediate Past President Director of Marketing, [email protected] Communications and Vacancy Alumni Relations Honorary Treasurer [email protected] Any correspondence should be addressed to the intended recipient, c/o The Ashvillian Society, at the following address: Ashville College, Green Lane, Harrogate HG2 9JP 2 A MESSAGE FROM HEAD FROM THE ACTING THE ACTING HEAD, MRS ELSPETH FISHER CONTENTS WELCOME FROM THE Dear OAs, EDITOR 2 As we approach the final FROM THE ACTING half-term of the academic HEAD 3 year, we are looking forward to PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 5 welcoming our new Head, Mrs Rhiannon Wilkinson, in September ASHVILLE APPOINTS as well as drawing this unusual ELEVENTH HEAD 6 year to a close, with at least some small events to mark the rite-of- OA NEWS 7-11 passage for pupils in Year 6 and WELCOME TO THE OAS the students in Year 11 and Upper JONATHAN OXLEY’S IOD Sixth. FELLOWSHIP Since my last message in the BECKY GREY ON SPORTS Q&A Winter Update, I reflect on ROLLCALL what has been a diverse and DAVID SIMISTER HARROGATE challenging time for both pupils and staff, beginning with ‘lockdown CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 3.0’, announced at short notice at the start of term. The College moved NEW CHIEF EXEC back into remote learning mode, providing online lessons and remote ISABELLE PAXTON’S EVEREST enrichment activities in the space of just over 12 hours after the Prime CHARITY CHALLENGE Minister’s announcement on 4 January. But for staff, the main difference PETER INGHAM NAMED this time was that we welcomed a number of critical worker children SCHOOLS CRICKETER OF THE into school during the weeks of lockdown as well as allowing boarders, YEAR 1974 who had already returned to school, to remain in the boarding houses SOCIETY CALENDAR OF during ‘lockdown 3.0’. It was also great to be able to continue with our EVENTS full provision within Acorns Nursery Class throughout this lockdown ASHVILLE MEMORABILIA ON period so that the youngest members of the College were able to keep EBAY their routines over those eight weeks. During this time, we continued to provide an uninterrupted education for all our pupils, delivering live PETER MCCORMICK OBE TO REMAIN AS FA CHAIRMAN lessons via Teams, but supported this with a number of virtual co- curricular activities for pupils as well as an ‘offline day’ to support our SOCIETY’S 122ND AGM TAKES pupils with the challenges of learning from home and to encourage them PLACE ONLINE to step away from their devices. The pupils in school were also able to SALLY BOLTON OBE join in with a range of activities organised in school to allow them the APPOINTED AELTC CHIEF EXEC chance to be ‘offline’ too. THREE FAMILIAR FACES IN HARROGATE It was fantastic to welcome back all our pupils on 8 March and the beautiful weather we experienced prior to Easter reminded me fully IN MEMORIAM 12-13 of children playing outside in the summer months when there were no restrictions in place, no bubbles and no limitations on the co-curricular FROM THE ARCHIVES 14 activities that could be offered. From my point of view, the activity of (1950-1970) children enjoying that sunshine was the highlight of a term of complete COLLEGE NEWS 15-18 contrasts. A HOME AWAY FROM HOME IN This year has seen the introduction of new approaches to provide CHALLENGING TIMES information to prospective parents about the College as well as adapting NEW OUTDOOR CLASSROOM our approach to the Entrance Test process. We have evolved our initial OPENS FOR YOUNGEST Virtual Open Day experience over the last six months and offered two PUPILS additional Virtual Open Days, one in February and the other in May. We KIT LEADS NORTH ENGLAND have been delighted by the number of guests visiting us on these days ULTIMATE RUGBY 7S TO and we hope that this is something we can continue to develop over the VICTORY coming years to support us with promoting Ashville to those who live further afield, be it internationally or simply families who are relocating YOUR SUPPORT IS VERY 18 to this area. MUCH APPRECIATED 2020 – A YEAR TO 19 REMEMBER > 3 ASHVILLIAN SOCIETY UPDATE • ISSUE 71 • Summer 2020-21 A MESSAGE FROM THE ACTING HEAD, MRS ELSPETH FISHER to ensure that they have an evidence portfolio to support the TAGs for each subject. Our students have been marvellous at rising to the challenge of a range of different assessments across all their GCSE or A Level subjects and we hope that all our candidates will receive the grades they have worked hard to achieve. FROM THE ACTING HEAD FROM THE ACTING Our boarders have been exceptional this year! They have faced situations that many UK residents cannot imagine and have, in some cases, not been home to see their families since last summer. For boarders who have managed to travel home at Christmas, they faced 14 days’ quarantine in hotels before they could return home. Others are now facing 21 days’ quarantine to travel home for the summer, again in hotels. As a result of the difficulties our pupils have faced, we have kept boarding open throughout all half-term holidays as well as Easter and provided them with a place where they feel safe and secure, surrounded by people they know. They have shown great resilience and determination and we are so proud of them for all that they have achieved over the last > 15 months. March was an extremely busy month for the College; not only were pupils returning to school, but the College As the academic year draws to a close, we are hoping needed to appoint its eleventh Head as well as two other to plan some events to mark the end of another year; a leadership posts. Mr Ian Kendrick left the College at year some might like to forget, but one that others may Easter to take up the role of Deputy Head: Academic at actually want to remember for very personal reasons. As Stockport Grammar School and we are looking forward a result of the restrictions on large group gatherings we to welcoming Owen Hillier in September when he takes were once again unable to hold the traditional Speech Day up the reins as Deputy Head: Academic at Ashville. We and Celebration Weekend at the Harrogate International also appointed Leanne Norton as Assistant Head: Head Convention Centre. Nevertheless, we still celebrated the of Sixth Form and she will replace Eliot Rintoul who achievements of our pupils in the Senior year groups, Year undertook this Acting role in September last year. 6, Year 11 and Upper Sixth, with prize winner ceremonies that took place on campus, some with a small audience Following the Government’s announcement that outdoor of parents.