Issue 4

The Coopers' Company and Coborn School’s Alumni Newsletter—October 2016

In June the annual Founders Day Service was held at St Dunstan’s Church in Stepney. The church contains not only a fine stained glass window dedicated to the Worshipful Company of Coopers’ but a memorial to the founder of one of our schools Nicholas Gibson, who is buried within the precincts of that church. The year seven students and accompanying staff made this annual pilgrimage which incidentally marked the 480th anniversary of Gibson’s school. The school has been lucky over the centuries to benefit from the generosity of many benefactors including the late and much respected, Miss Joyce Honner whose munificence helps many of our students to pursue their love of music. I am informed that some alumni have indicated that they intend making a bequest to their former school a gesture much appreciated in these financially straightened times but under the circumstances we are fully prepared to wait!

This edition of the Bugle is later than anticipated and for this I apologise. I hope that you will find the wait worthwhile. I also apologise to those who have contacted me and whose news does not appear in this edition. As in the previous Bugle and following the deaths of two former well respected members of staff, Tony Walker and Alan Pearce and alumna Amy Haskew there is sad news to report and tributes to be made.

There is, however, some good news to be shared from the Highlands of Scotland! Mr David Baker a former Senior Teacher and dedicated exponent of outdoor skills was presented with a special award by HRH Prince Philip, duke of Edinburgh in recognition of David’s forty-seven years as an assessor for the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. HRH told David that he was the longest serving assessor and thanked him for his commitment. The scheme is now very popular in school and at last year’s prizegiving the admirable Joseph Harrison (2009-2016) was the first recipient of the David Baker Duke of Edinburgh Award. David and his wife Chris, formerly a teacher at Havering Sixth Form College run a business in Glencoe where during the winter survival skills might just come in handy! I should be happy to put any of David’s former students in touch with him.

David Baker 1 It was good to hear from Mark Dunn who joined the school in 1982 and who like many alumni works in finance in the City. Mark has passed on The Bugle to his cousins Andrew and Heather Murdoch and Mark tells me that he is in touch with Ben Simister, Glen Collins and Craig Livingstone. If you are able to email this to please do so and please get in touch with your news.

Coopers’ Coborn has again been on the television. Before the summer some eloquent year eleven students were being questioned about the pressure exerted by social media on young people. One former student who contacted me was greatly impressed by the articulate way in which these young people expressed themselves in front of the camera. More recently Mrs Regan and her year nine class of pizza makers appeared on our screens in an item about the importance of being able to cook. Mrs Regan was a natural in front of the cameras and there is speculation that she might be tempted away from her classroom to take over from Paul Hollywood! Matthew Clemenson (2005-2012) is working as a journalist and wrote a report in a local newspaper at the time of the controversy over contact sports and the lobbying that took place to limit them in schools. Matthew based his article on an interview with a member of staff and students currently at the school.

Matthew is following his mother, Jacqui Hatton (1975-1982) into the world of journalism. Jacqui was editor of “Woman”, “Woman’s Own and is now in charge of the popular “Best” magazine. I have a fond memory of Jacqui and her friends on a trip to Germany in 1977 led by Joan Sweeting. We overnighted in a hotel in Ostend en route to the Rhine. The hotel and its ambience had seen no great changes since the Great War and the food was truly dreadful. Miss Sweeting asked the girls how they had slept and they replied that they had not slept well because of the “continental” bedding. On inspection the beds had not been made up and the girls had endeavoured to sleep on horsehair mattresses and pillows with feathers bursting through the ticking. One cannot imagine today such ladylike and stoic composure. Jacqui Hatton

I was interested to read a reference in a national newspaper to “London’s fashionable East End”. Former alumni of the Coopers’ school in Bow might be interested to look at the website of the Bridge Property Company Limited which is marketing the apartments created in their former school to see how fashionable “The Old School E3” as it is described has become. The photographs reveal a tasteful conversion of the building and the grounds. Of the few properties left one four bedroomed loft apartment is selling at £1,100.950 in what is described as “the most breath taking building seen in Bow”. Perhaps for sentiment’s sake a former Cooper’s boy might be tempted to invest in “one of London’s most sought after Squares”. Alumni will be pleased to note that the school hall is still very much in evidence but would not recognise the comfortable sofas and shady foliage.

2 While in a less fashionable part of the East End and in the local CO-OP I bumped into James Williams. James is living in the newly created Hallsville Quarter another revitalised and reinvented part of the former Docklands. James when at school was a great presence in all things musical and is a superb pianist. He studied in London and is now a professional musician. James has recently sung the role of Don Alfonso in Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutti and on November 18th he will sing the role of Dr Falke in Fulham Opera’s production of Offenbach’s Die Fledermaus at St John’s Church in SW6.

This August anyone watching events unravelling in Nice that followed the dreadful terrorist attack would have been greatly impressed by Ben Bland’s (1995-2002) highly professional and sensitive handling of the extensive coverage on the BBC World News. Ayshea Buksch is also much in evidence on BBC Ben Bland London dealing with topics of social Ayshea Buksch significance. Former School Captain and a speaker at a school prize-giving Alison Picton, is now working very closely with the new Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. The press have described Alison’s role as being the “Keeper of the Gate” and she was recently in New York and at the Labour Party Conference in Blackpool with a team supporting the Mayor. Alumnus Darren Brockwell appeared in a documentary about the City of London police. Darren who has had a long career in the police force was seen dealing politely but firmly with an offender in the Square Mile. Darren’s sister Natasha also attended the school. As I have said before our alumni are everywhere! I shall endeavour to contact the above and ask them to contribute to the Bugle!

With the approach to Christmas and the purchase of presents on peoples’ minds two people closely associated with our school have recently published books. Kevin Chapman who fully retired last year after forty two years dedicated service to the school has wasted no time in publishing his first and meticulously researched novel “The Midnight of her Soul”. For those who have read or seen the films of Sebastian Faulk’s “Charlotte Grey” and Irene Nemirovsky’s “Suite Francaise” this is a must. Set immediately before the Fall of France and during the German occupation it is a tale of human endeavour and survival and is based on the real life fortunes of the family of Jacques Duval who lived in Morvan in Burgundy. It is also a reminder of how war and occupation bring out the very best in some and the very worst in others. It can be ordered on Amazon and is available on Kindle. There is also a website www.midnight-of-her-soul.weebly.com .

3 An email from David Mansfield alerted me to the fact that Rylan Clark Neal (aka Ross Clark) had published the autobiography of his early years entitled “The Life of Rylan”. The author states that he has written the book himself but was thwarted by his publishers who would not countenance the title he wanted, namely “The TOOTH, the WHOLE TOOTH and nothing but the TOOTH”. The book is frank and witty and Rylan makes reference to several incidents and personalities at Coopers Coborn School. He speaks well of Dr Davina Lloyd and I was touched by his kind reference to me and I shall make sure that the person having the task of compiling my final eulogy has a copy of that section of the book! The book is proving very popular amongst his many fans and the reviews from them have been effusive!

An alumna and a star of the TV screen is Rochelle, formerly Wiseman who is married to JLS singer and was formerly a member of “” and “”. During her successful singing career each group achieved ten hit singles including a number one. Rochelle spent two years with us before transferring to Collins’ Theatre School and has enjoyed enormous success in her varied career. Rochelle is now a successful TV presenter of shows like ITV’s the Ninja Warrior UK and has worked with and . In 2015 and 2016 she hosted the Xtra Factor and is to front with a new ITV entertainment The Next Great Magician. She is remembered fondly by those who taught her as a charming and unassuming student.

On May 14th 2016 Kathy Davis and a group of her friends who had started secondary school in 1965 organised a reunion at the Upminster School for those who had attended Coborn Grammar School for Girls. About sixty alumni attended the gathering and after a welcome from Dr Parry the party inspected memorabilia curated by Liz Evans. Tours of the school were led by the latter and Alumni Ambassadors Nicole Boran and Ellie Healy. The alumni present and encouraged by Liz Evans have decided to sponsor and develop at the front of the school “A Coborn Girls’Garden”. This is a welcome project and very fitting as few of the roses planted by Miss Honner in 1975 on the occasion of her retirement have survived! Like all Coborn reunions this ended with the singing of the Coborn Chorale. Liz would be most happy to arrange a reunion of this kind and can be contacted at the school. [email protected]

4 Reading this newsletter one might be led to conclude that our alumni are mainly engaged in careers in the media. Sarah Cassidy (1976-1983), however, has spent her career as a social worker dedicated to improving the lives of others and has my great admiration. Sarah has worked mainly in London but has gained and expanded her experience in Australia and the United States of America. Sarah went to Bradford University and spent four years studying for a degree in Social Studies and Applied Social Work. Her degree prepared her for dealing with issues surrounding probation, educational welfare and what can be termed “front-line” social services. As Sarah says the work is hard, unrelenting and often stressful, especially when dealing with child protection. Working with the police and the resulting report writing, the paperwork, restricted funding and the constant press scrutiny means that Sarah had to be emotionally strong. However, Sarah says that she feels very privileged; the work is always stimulating, one is constantly learning, one’s perception and understanding are enhanced by every new case especially in the fields of domestic violence, mental health and drug related issues. The legal landscape is constantly changing and the need to have a full awareness of these new developments keeps her on her toes. She enjoys working with other professionals especially those dealing with children in care, fostering and adoption and vulnerable adults. The settings of these issues are varied and include prisons, hospitals and secure units as well as residential establishments. When I met with Sarah and her partner at Bruce Castle in Tottenham I was pleased to see that a lifetime of what most of us would find exhausting and generally debilitating work had not altered her at all and she was still the ebullient and friendly girl that I remember and is still blessed with a cheeky sense of humour. Sarah remembers her time at Coopers’ Coborn with affection. It is always good to hear from some of our “riper” alumni! I especially enjoyed a correspondence with Bob Catley who was a pupil at the Tredegar Square School between 1954 and 1961. Bob was Deputy School Captain and in the First Rugby Team (1959-60) and Chess Team (1957). Bob went to the London School of Economics (where he knew Mick Jagger) won a scholarship to the Australian National University where in 1968 he was awarded a Doctorate. In 1972 Bob became Head of Politics at Adelaide University and then Professor and Head of School at the University of Otago in New Zealand. He has also worked at Charles Darwin University and the University of Newcastle in New South Wales. From 1970 until the 1990s Bob was a Consultant to many Australian governmental departments. He also found the time and opportunity to lecture in the USA at Delaware and the Pennsylvania State University. His lecture tours also took Bob to the UK, Russia and Asia. Bob was a Member of the Australian Commonwealth Parliament in Canberra Bob Catley (1990-1993) and has written sixteen books, thousands of articles in learned journals and in the press, and appeared on radio and TV! Bob has two sons one of whom has predeceased him.

Bob has many memories of his time at school, “Coopers was a great school and it took me from an Old Ford yob heading for gangster and jail to being a leftist academic type” Bob says that he regrets the move of the school from the East End to the suburbs as it has denied mobility to many bright individuals who live in the area. Like many boys Bob worked on a stall in the Roman Road and he recalls John Mc Vicar as being “tough but clever”.

5 He recalls his “mates” in boy-school style by their surnames – Killian, Boorman, Herbert, Daniels, Barber, Porter, French (now a professor in Canada) and Jasper who has recently passed away. Bob recalls vividly and with affection his lessons given by Tony Davis on Shakespeare. Bob like many Australians enjoys the outdoor life and is a keen yachtsman. If anyone would like to be put in touch with Bob please contact me.

Under 15’s 1957-58

It was good to catch up with Dr Andrea Beaton (1983-90) who recalled with affection her time at school and especially her biology teacher John Edyvean who she remembers releasing live locusts in the laboratory and Colin Churhett’s “road trip” to Cambridge. After a highly successful academic career at school Andrea went to Girton College, Cambridge to study medicine and being tired of what seemed endless cycling (Girton was deliberately built by its Victorian founders one mile from the nearest male college) and envying her friends’ social lives she completed her studies at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. Andrea stayed in East London where she became “addicted” to the curries in Brick Lane. She undertook paediatric training at the Royal London in 1998 and then moved to Addenbrooks Hospital in Cambridge to further her work in neonatal care and in the paediatric intensive care units. Andrea is now a consultant at Kingston Hospital in Surrey.

Andrea lives in Surrey with her husband and two sons and enjoys sewing and baking – she is a keen follower of the “Bake-off”. Andrea has appeared on TV in “The One Show” where she was awarded a gold-plated rolling pin for making the Nation’s Favourite Mince Pie! Andrea said, “I really cherish the opportunities I was afforded by attending Coopers’ Coborn”. We would like to congratulate Andrea on her success and hope that she has completed all the work on her new home.

6 Emma Hebron (1994-2000) has fond memories of school and like Andrea Beaton she feels she owes a lot to Coopers’ Coborn writing, “how lucky and privileged I feel to have had such a great start in life”. Emma is now Head of Early Years Education at Upminster Infants School and lives in Cranham with her husband a Campion boy and two young children. Anthony her brother, attended the school between 1989 and 1996. He graduated in 1999 from University and now lives in Maidenhead with his wife and two daughters. We wish them all well. Richard Palmer (1976-78) stayed with us for a short period but got in touch to say he remembered with gratitude Mr Davis’ efforts to improve his handwriting. Richard was a classmate of Simon Rhodes and after university at and Kent he worked in as an Insurance Broker. Rather embarrassingly he recalls his lessons on feudal farming but Richard clearly was well drilled as the information has come into great use with his son, now studying the same topic. At last year’s Prizegivings held on December 11th 2015 the guest speakers were two former alumni. At the Lower and Upper School prize givings Lauren Jenkins (see Bugle 2) “did the honours” and gave the address to both groups of students. Lauren has made a successful career in retail but in her spare time is a very keen thespian and playwright; unsurprisingly she took as her theme that while at school she felt as if she was always the “understudy” while others appeared to find everything at school so much easier to do than she. However, she now feels that she has become more of the” leading lady”, her success being the result of hard work, passion and of course the realisation that she has the ability now linked with the necessary confidence. She encouraged her listeners to have the confidence in themselves and extolled them to aim high. This was a proud moment for mum and staff member Jacqui Jenkins.

In the evening at the year 12 and 13 Prizegiving Ann Cook (1976-1981) was the guest speaker. Ann had already been a guest speaker on two previous occasions at Lower School prize givings. Ann has close connections with the school that she, her brother Steve attended and nephew Sam attends. Her Great Uncle was Rector of Bow and a School Governor in the 1920s. Her Aunt Irene was a Coborn girl and her Uncle Martin Ansell was an alumnus and was a Foundation Governor from 1974 to 2004. The Ansell building is named in his honour. Those of us privileged to have worked with him recall a dignified and courteous Ann Cook gentleman. Ann left school at sixteen and studied Travel and Tourism working briefly in that field. Ann then entered the world of media and has not looked back. She is now Director of Interactive and Managing Director of ITL for ITV. She joined the marketing department of The Children’s Channel and rose to become the Head of Marketing and PR working with Sky to launch the Sky satellite dish. She joined Granada Sky Broadcasting as Marketing Director to launch seven cable and satellite channels. In 2005 after gaining further experience with Frank N Magid Associates and the Associated Press News Agency Ann has worked at ITV, leading a team of forty-five who produce interactivity for shows like “I’m a Celebrity Get Me out of Here” and the “X-Factor”. Ann is mum to student Emma and mentors women in media who want a balance between their career and private lives. She also serves on the Ivy Club Committee.

7 Ann spoke about the need for passion in all that you do and she pointed out that she had not followed an academic route into the world of media. She encouraged her more youthful listeners to aim high and work hard to achieve their goals. Impediments to progress could be overcome. Ann spoke of the occasion where she had encountered some of our female students at a function; the girls were discussing the problems of “VPL” and Ann offered them the solution. As the audience braced itself and the platform party visibly flinched to hear that solution, she breezed on to another point. There is still something of the mischievous girl about Ann and it is a reminder of how important it is to have charm and personality! We were also pleased to see Ann’s mum, one of life’s great social hostesses present for the occasion.

Steven Cook (1977-1982) wanted to be a farmer and got as far as studying at Writtle Agricultural College but then persuaded by fellow alumnus Karl Morris he began a trainee management course with Homebase. Steve has had an interesting career; he has worked in Insurance, has worked as National Sales Manager at the Romford Headquarters of the company dealing with NVQs in retail and has run his own company “The Bath Doctor”. Steve has a great love of sailing and has sailed from Antigua to Lymington and sailed a hundred year old classic yacht in the Solent in an episode of Kavanagh QC. Steve at an early age had lengthy battle with cancer but is now in full health and rebuilding his business. Steve has three children, Sam (studying for A levels), Ted and Holly and lives in west London with his wife Amanda. Being a social animal he keeps in touch with alumni including Louise Fallows, Tanya Carter, Ian Howard, Elaine Miller, Tom Hamberger, Lee Mussi, Karl Morris and Peter Sawyer. As authorship is very much in vogue I might well write a book about my travels in Europe with several of the above! Happy Days! Steven Cook & Kids!

A chance meeting on the District Line brought me up to date with the popular Cheung family! Clifford is teaching and is Head of Sixth Form in Dubai and is married to Melanie. Vincent is a partner in a commercial property company based in central London and his wife Daisy works in the food export market to Scandinavia. Jon completed his A levels at Chelmsford but frustrated by his lack of progress joined the family firm. Jon stood this for just a month and then was fortunate to be offered work experience in IT with Agilisys – Hammersmith and Fulham Bridge Partnership. The Company offered Jon employment and after two weeks he got a permanent contract working in technical analysis and as a field engineer. He has been promoted and is a systems and infrastructure analyst and he has been promoted and placed on a “trail blazer” programme while studying for the Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate qualification. Jon said that “The school enabled me to grow in confidence and I would like to thank the staff who recognised my strengths and weaknesses and having the patience to put up with me”. The three boys were fortunate to have the backing of their parents who worked hard to ensure that their sons achieved their best.

8 We were saddened to learn of Tony Walker’s passing. Tony was Head of Maths from 1979 to 1984 when he left us to teach at Brentwood School. Mike Bear worked closely with Tony and writes “He was simply the most able mathematician I have worked with and was equally at home with the trivial O level question as he was with the most ticklish Oxbridge entrance problem. One of the “Old School” he was a firm believer in the rigorous approach to maths teaching that seems almost remote to us these days. Perhaps Tony’s most unusual claim to fame was that while he was at Dartford Grammar he taught Mick Jagger. Mick went to the LSE. Tony introduced and managed the Sixth Form Leaver’s dinner and was a former captain of the London University badminton team and he regularly turned out on a Friday night at the staff/student “thrash about” proving an absolute demon whose trickery on both the badminton and tennis courts was the stuff of legend”. Tony Walker was married to Alan Pearce’s sister. Alan passed away this year after a lengthy illness. Known as AWP he was the last of that old science “triumvirate” that included John Edyvean and David Smith. In the 70s the science prep-room was known for its impenetrable fog of cigarette smoke and was no place for those of a nervous disposition. The science departments were something of a power house in the days. Penny Wilson is the last to have worked with these men and she pays a fitting tribute to Alan who like Tony was one of the “Old School”.

Alan William Pearce

Alan was a Cornishman, born in Plymouth, and proud of it. He went to Kings College London to gain his degree. After a few years as a chemical engineer, and after putting the baby on Fairy toilet soap, he left industry for teaching. He started at the old school in Bow and then moved to Upminster with the school. His teaching was inspirational; he was always excited by Chemistry and helped many young people to enjoy the subject and to reach their potential. He was able to give confidence to the students so that they realised they were clever and could achieve. He also taught in California for a year and in Ethiopia for another year, always mindful of the needs of his students and always practical. In Ethiopia, when Addis Ababa ran out of sterilization fluid during a cholera epidemic he turned his laboratory into a factory and Alan Pearce & HRH Princess Anne pumped out as much as the capital needed 24/7 while his beloved wife Kathleen, a nurse, vaccinated the Danakil tribes of the desert with the help of the Peace Corp. Both were rewarded by the Emperor Haile Selassie with a personal visit and on that day, AWP pushed his Ethiopian lab technician forward with homemade apparatus to teach Chemistry in the bush. AWP was Head of Chemistry and Senior Teacher at Coopers’. A practical and organised man – never without a folded bit of squared paper in his top pocket for his list. A real gentleman, always courteous and thoughtful of others, in a slightly old-fashioned way, such as holding the door open while a teacher tried to get into the prep room with a huge pile of books. His notes were exemplary and he shared them gladly. He set and maintained the highest standards. His knowledge of Chemistry was second to none. He taught so many teachers and technicians with patience and humour; a man who would watch your back and help tirelessly The creator of numerous chemical models and crystal samples for the department. He was always encouraging students and colleagues to ‘do what you want to do most’. A true teacher and friend who cared so much about the school. When he retired he bestowed an annual prize for practical Chemistry in his name and has attended prizegiving nearly every year to see it presented.

9 AWP is sorely missed by colleagues, past and present, and his family. He was widowed in 1992 and never ceased to remember his wife and yet to carry on and make the most of life. He loved gardening and devoted much time, energy and enthusiasm, in his retirement, to creating a garden of which he was proud and enjoyed showing friends round. He was also justly proud of his family, despite the lack of scientists. He was a loving father to Yvonne, Patrick and Geoffrey who all attended Coopers’ and have gone on to make him a grandfather of 12 and great grandfather of 4. The family and his legacy of teaching will go on strongly into the foreseeable future.

Amy Haskew

In May we were devastated to learn of the death of Amy Haskew (2002-2009) who sustained fatal injuries whilst on a cycling holiday in Melbourne. Amy was a stalwart of the music department and a fitting tribute has been made by Jan Bristow, Director of Music to a very special girl. Amy’s parents and her brother, an alumnus, Peter were remembered in school prayers. The union flag was flown at half - mast and attached to it was a white ribbon the Salvation Army symbol of “togetherness”. Amy was a lovely girl, full of character and fun. She played the euphonium in Symphonic Wind Band and Brass Band, and was also often found playing in the Brass Quintet at St Botolph without Bishopsgate in the Cloker Service and Christmas Carol Service. Amy went on the school Music tours and participated in the Music for Youth competitions. A very friendly girl, Amy used to 'rock up' to the Music Office to chat, always smiling and thoroughly enjoying life. She was willing to give of her time, attending rehearsals cheerfully and particularly enjoyed the 'muso banter' that was in evidence at every rehearsal, more often than not, contributing to it!

Amy grew up with her family at Romford Salvation Army Corps and had been a member of the Singing Company (Junior Choir), Junior and Senior Bands. A keen dancer, Amy used to use her skills to bring inspiration to others during the SA services, by interpreting the mood and words of worship songs. She was also very involved in the youth work and youth club at the Corps. It was through this connection that Amy went to Zambia a few years ago, enjoying the opportunity to throw herself into this new experience. Here, she had a way with people and children and willingness to get stuck into whatever was in front of her whether it was helping with baby health checks, teaching the 'Hokey Cokey' to a group of orphans and vulnerable children, or just blowing up balloons to make them smile. She also helped out at a Summer school in America more than once, assisting those who came from less fortunate backgrounds. She was 'a life in all it's fullness' kind of girl, this spirit never leaving her, as evidenced by her untimely death at the point when she was having the 'time of her life', travelling with her boyfriend Sam.

The preparation of the next edition of the Bugle is well under way, however, there are thousands of alumni from our school who could get in touch. I am waiting to hear from you……… [email protected] 10