Pate’s Progress

Issue 26 Spring 2010

Inside:
Pate’s students visit NASA
Girls’ Sports Tour to South Africa
Midsummer Nights Dream
 Forthcoming The Head Master
events at Pate’s.... Writes......
Spring Term 2010 A nd so it is now 2010. The last decade has flown by but some things remain
constant – the grammar school remains committed to providing our unique
blend of education maximising academic learning, enabling happy school days and
Sat 30 Jan Welsh National Opera in school hall
supporting personal development as children grow into young adults. All manner of
Tue 2 Feb Berlin Wall Lecture government initiatives and educational innovations have come and gone. Any
teacher not keen to learn more and try different strategies to improve isn’t worthy of
Thur 4 Feb Charity Comedy Evening with the status but equally fads and gimmicks should be treated as such. One massive
David O’Docherty change over the last decade has been the place of computers so that the teenage
Fri 5 Feb Wine and Cheese Tasting – ‘digital natives’ at Pate’s now have ICT provision, e-learning support and a
Sports Tour Fundraising technologically rich environment that continues to develop apace.
Tues 9 Feb Concert – Ensemble Evening
Thur 11 Feb Charity Valentine’s Day Events As we look to the future, we should cherish all that is so good about our school. It
Wed 24 Feb Lunchtime Musical Concert was pleasing that, at a university reunion event for Patesians last year, a number of
Dance Evening former students told me how the teaching they received at Pate’s meant that they
Fri 26 Feb Parents’ Association Quiz Night started their university studies considerably ahead of their peers from other schools.
Sat 27 Feb Orchestral Concert in school hall
Over the coming months and years education will become a political and economic
Mon 1 Mar Geography GIS Master Class
proverbial football and I do fear that our opportunities to provide the extras that
Sat 6 Mar National Festival Music for Youth make such a difference will be threatened by cuts across the public sector. I see that
funding difficulties will be an issue for all schools but I do hope that the local
Sun 7 Mar Competition at Pate’s politicians will be vocal in their support for selective education.
Wed 10 Mar Spring Concert Despite political and economic uncertainties, I believe that we can all look forward
with confidence so that the next decade at Pate’s can be just as successful as any in
Wed 17 Mar Middle School House Debating the past. That is because of the superb staff, supportive parents and governors but
Sat 27 Mar Parents’ Association Spring Fair mostly because of the calibre of young people at Pate’s. It is a privilege to spend time
with them.
Tue 30 Mar Jazz Evening
I would urge any former students to be in
Wed 31 Mar Pate’s Lecture – Sir Brian touch – come back and visit as my guest and
Pitman please do drop me a line to tell me what you
are doing now. It would be super to hear from
You are warmly invited to these events, please you and I would be really pleased to share
contact us for more information. news with others through future editions of
Pate’s Progress.

How to contact us ...

Pate’s Grammar School
Princess Elizabeth Way
Cheltenham
Glos GL51 OHG

Tel: 01242 523 169

Fax: 01242 232 775
Email: office@pates.gloucs.sch.uk Shaun Fenton
Website: www.pates.gloucs.sch.uk Head master

Ellie Binnie on top of Cleeve Hill

 In this issue
????????

On the cover...
Winter skills
2009 in the Cairn
Gorms
4

6
4 - Trip to NASA
5 - Music at Pate’s
- Youth Film Critic Awards
6 - Outdoor Education, CCF and
trip to Ontario

8 8

7 - Link Ethiopia
8 - Make your Mark Challenge
Building Development

9
9 - A Taste of China
Partnerships in Learning
11

10 - Alumni 13
- A new teacher’s first
impressions of Pate’s
11 - Girls’ sports tour to South
Africa

16

13 - Sport 15
15 - Midsummer Night’s Dream
16 - Art at Pate’s

3
 Take off......
Science Department
visit to NASA
I really enjoyed the NASA trip! It was amazing
because we learnt so much but it was really fun. I
learnt how the world is going to generate electricity
when we run out of fossil fuels and I found out so
much information about rocket launches and rockets.
I really enjoyed going on all the simulators in the
Astronaut Training Experience because we got to
understand how the astronauts trained and what it
was like to be in a real rocket. I enjoyed doing the role
play of a rocket mission because we experienced how
hard it was for the astronauts to control the rocket
and how many different things they had to do at once.
I also loved the theme parks because we got to spend
two whole days on roller coasters! Overall, the NASA
trip was great fun. Pippa Matthews 10G
4
I n October, 56 students spent three days at
the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
Among the highlights of this was the day
spent on the Astronaut Training
Experience. We took part in training
activities, received lectures on the structure
and engineering behind the space shuttle
and carried out a full-size Shuttle Landing
Simulation, which was amazing. Some of us
even got the opportunity to touch a tyre
that had been on a space shuttle! At the
museum everyone took the opportunity to
touch a piece of space rock that was on
display, we can now say that Pate’s has
touched the moon!
We were taken to the two main launch pads
at Cape Canaveral and were able to see
both the Space Shuttle Atlantis,
which was rolled out while we were
in Florida, and the new NASA rocket,
which had a successful launch the
week after we returned to the UK.
Although the launch had had to be
postponed from the day of our visit,
we were fortunate to be there on the
only occasion when there have ever
been two different types of spacecraft
in the hanger at the same time, an
historic moment. We visited the
Astronaut Hall of Fame and had a
very interesting guided tour around
all the exhibits; we were amazed by
just how small, cramped and fragile
the space capsules actually were. In
fact we came to realise that the early
missions were no more than sending
men into space riding on a missile. We
suddenly realised that astronauts do not
have a glamorous job, but an incredibly
dangerous one. The solid rocket boosters of
the shuttle are enormous and, again, we
were able to appreciate that these were full
of an explosive fuel. Although we knew
that fuel was dangerous, seeing it up close
combined with the sheer size of the
spacecraft made it take on another
dimension, something you can’t imagine
when just watching a launch from a
distance on a TV screen.
We had lunch with Space Shuttle pilot John
McBride, who was able to answer lots of
questions, and we had group photos taken
with him. We also saw an IMAX
presentation of life on the International
Space Station and enjoyed a space shuttle
launch simulation.
We had an airboat ride on the everglades,
but, unfortunately, didn’t see any alligators,
however the bird life was very good and we
did see a Bald Eagle and its enormous nest.
No trip to Florida would be complete
without a visit to a theme park and we
went to Universal Studios and had a
fantastic time on all the rides and
simulations.
Overall this was a fantastic school trip; we
learned so much about space travel and the
difficulties and complexities of applying
science to problem-solving. We were really
inspired by what we heard, so much so that
some of us are thinking hard about our
university courses already, so that maybe in
the future we can be involved in the space
programme in Europe or America.

Lunchtime Concert
in Cheltenham
Town Hall
T
he invitation to perform at Cheltenham
Town Hall as part of their lunchtime
concert series was an excellent opportunity for
some of our most able musicians to showcase
their talents outside school. Despite the
torrential downpour there was a good
audience who clearly enjoyed the fantastic
Charity Concert
O
n Wednesday 4th November over 100
musicians from across Years 7 – 13 came
together to raise £600 for the charity Link
Ethiopia, in the school’s annual Charity
Concert. The evening showcased pupils of all
standards, opening with a rousing
performance of Dvorak’s Sonatina Symfonika
from First Orchestra. Equally valued however
was Training Orchestra’s performance of
several children’s songs, with many members
starting lessons only this term. Training
Chinese horizons
O
n 13th July, 13 budding sinologists
embarked on a long journey (about 20
hours) to China. We arrived a day later in
Beijing. As soon as we stepped outside the air
conditioned terminal, the sticky heat truly hit
us and we took many days to recover. For the
next few days we would stay in a campus
with thousands of other students from the UK
and the USA. We saw the sights and explored
the city, visiting the must-see places such as
the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and
Tiananmen Square in the rain. Despite the
growing casualties to swine flu and the
looming prospect of quarantine, our group
managed to escape Beijing on 19th July and
travelled across China to Shanghai.
We spent two weeks in Shanghai on a
language course, which really improved our
Mandarin. In the afternoons we toured the
sights of the city, including the Oriental Pearl
TV Tower and the older parts of the city. We
also had a try at haggling in the markets to
Lights, camera, action: my day at the Young Film Critic Awards
I entered the young Film Citic Competition
and as my favourite film of 2009 is Slumdog
Millionaire, I wrote a review of that. A few
weeks later, I was surprised but very pleased
when Mr Allinson told me that I had won the
secondary school category.
On Thursday 15th October my Mum and I
took the train to London, the home of the
BAFTA building, where the awards ceremony
was being held. It was a very grand building,
full of gold and marble. We were given VIP
passes. We then went to the awards ceremony
in the Princess Anne theatre which was hosted
by Blue Peter presenter Joel Deffries. It began
with a short trailer for National Schools Film
Week (15-23 October.) The awards were
presented by figures from different areas of
the film industry. The biggest excitement came
Culture
performances, some were even moved to write expect, shaped two technically demanding
and express their appreciation. pieces with impressive maturity. William
Three chamber ensembles framed the concert Percy performed another, very different staple
in the form of a senior flute group, Year 12 of the cello repertoire. The deceptively simple
string quartet and Year 12 sax quartet. All character piece The Swan leaves no room for
three ensembles provided slick performances. the slightest error, and William’s beautiful
In addition to this, there were several stunning performance was flawless. We also heard from
solo performances. The youngest performer, Susie Bagnall (soprano) who provided a
Rebecca McNaught (cello), performed Kol committed rendition of Pieta Signore with
Nidrei accompanied by her brother Jonathan. remarkable support and shape. Tomoya
Her performance was impressive by any Forster showed how beautiful the alto
standard, her tone quality and sense of line, saxophone can be and why he is shaping up
outstanding. Jonathan later performed two for a career in music!
solo piano pieces, and, as we have come to
African Drumming
T
Orchestra also featured Robin Hedley 7G,
Pate’s first harpist! Year7 also featured heavily
he music department’s contribution to the
in Junior Vocal Group, singing ‘Hallelujah’
Africa day involved a singing workshop
and ‘I Dreamed a Dream’, while their older
and a drumming workshop. Our drum and
counterparts in Senior Vocal Group performed
percussion teacher Sam Gerard kept 25 Year 9
two songs from the musical ‘Guys and Dolls’.
pupils enthralled as they put together complex
Both halves of the concert were brought to a
polyrhythms on the new African drums. In the
toe-tapping conclusion, with performances
room next door the singers mastered four part
from Junior and Senior Jazz.
harmonies in a variety of African songs. The
whole day came together in the hall as both
singers and drummers gave the rest of the
school a taste of African Music.
buy surprisingly cheap
designer clothes and
went to restaurants
which served many
weird and wonderful
foods.
One day we went to
Suzhou, a less built-up
city nearby. This included
a boat ride around the
Venice-like canals and a
trip to a traditional opera
house, where Fran, our
very own concubine, and
Elliot took part in the
show.
At the end of the two
weeks in Shanghai, we
went back to Beijing and
stayed in a five star hotel
as a prize for being brave
during the swine flu outbreak. We visited the shopping before finally beginning the long
Temple of Heaven, went on a rickshaw tour journey home
through old Beijing and did a last spot of
George Wright – Year 13
when Joel announced who would present the
Film Club awards to me – Tom Felton, who
plays the villainous Draco Malfoy in the
famous. I wondered about asking him if his
famous and brilliant quote “I like geography. I
like to know where places are” (on a poster in
Harry Potter films. Some of the younger D212 along with the words of Confucius,
children, evidently confusing him with his Gandhi and Einstein) still holds true for him,
character, cowered in their seats and the little but decided against it.
boy sitting next to me waved an imaginary I was very proud to have won a national
wand at him! Tom presented me with a trophy competition. I didn’t have the chance to make
and a certificate. a tearful Kate Winslet-style acceptance speech,
Afterwards, I had but I would like to thank my Mum for taking
photos taken with me to London, Mr Allinson for telling
Tom and he everyone about the competition and the Film
autographed my Club and Film Education staff for organising
certificates. Unlike such an exciting day.
his character, he was
very friendly and
down-to-earth in
Rosemary Collins Year 12
spite of being
5
 Outdoor Education
CCF Field Day such as bacon, beans

I
and beef. Next, we
n October I enjoyed a CCF field day and were briefed about our
camp out. During Friday every new recruit rota for the day, which
from both the Army and RAF sections included a session on
journeyed to Cleeve Hill where our activities how to prepare and
were based. We were divided into groups, look after your kit and
each led by a NCO from Year 12 or 13. First polish your boots,
there was a station where we were told about before receiving our
D of E and were briefed about the award CCF kit. As well as the
system, the requirements and the benefits of it. kit issue procedures,
Next we were reminded of how to prepare our we revised and
food and given a taste of the new ration pack practised the drill that
contents. Many of us were surprised to see we had learnt over the
Marmite, Tabasco sauce and Lucozade sport first few weeks of
drink flavouring items that made the ration Friday night sessions.
pack more flavoursome and enjoyable! On the We spent time on the
top of the hill we learnt about navigation and field navigating and
how to use it effectively and accurately. We put practising our new
our skills and knowledge to the test by safe while at the same time ensuring everyone skills.
completing a few navigation tasks on the hill. was having fun. We also learnt about first aid. The whole event was very exciting and made
We persevered through the cold conditions, Lastly, we learnt how to use and look after us all very eager to continue with our CCF and
enjoying the new experiences. The most tents, which will be a vital skill in future to get stuck into the opportunities it has.
popular activity was abseiling. Lt Col Woodall expeditions and camps. The next day we woke
Ellie Wilson 9R
led the abseiling, making sure everyone was up to prepare our breakfast rations of food,

Annual Camp 2009 left a lot of us slightly

O
bruised, but definitely Relaxing a'er an action packed day
n Sunday 12th July 2009, cadets from wanting more!
Pate’s Grammar School CCF set off from On the final day, the
Cheltenham to Crowborough, Sussex, in search competitions got off to
of knowledge, fun and exploration. The week a good start in the
of excitement kicked off with adventurous march and shoot, with
training, getting all the cadets pumped up and Pate’s dominating the
ready for the next four days of hardcore effort opposition and gaining
and enthusiasm. our first victory of the
As always, every day was packed with day. This was not to be
opportunities to learn, have fun and develop the only success. Our
skills – social, physical and leadership. A patrolling section came
personal favourite day of mine was field craft, a close second, and
which involved running around, getting dirty Hattie Nicholas topped
and firing lots and lots of rounds! As well as it off by winning the
field craft, the day down on the ranges also prize for the best archer
proved to be one of the best. On previous on camp.
Annual Camps range days have just been Annual Camp is
shooting, however this year there was a bit always a highlight of the CCF calendar, which
more variety, such as an assault course, air leaves me with only one thing to say – bring on Jen Cockett 12B1
rifles, laser tag and even paintballing, which Annual Camp 2010.

Ontario Tiger training programme very well, eager to pick up R&R opportunities for the groups. The

venturer 2009
the skills needed for the two expedition phases. highlights were many but the street performers
Sunny days were interrupted by heavy in Ottawa and the Blue Jays game stand out

P
downpours and much of camp life took place (especially the commentary from our waiter in
under tarps. Groups learnt to cook on open the Hard Rock Café who gave us a
ate’s Grammar School took part in an
fires, a skill that is little practised in the UK. commentary while we dined in stadium side
exciting wilderness canoeing experience in
Much fun was had lighting these fires with seats).
Ontario, Canada.
birch-bark and fire-steel.
The two parties rolled through Desert Lake,
John Albinson, former Professor
North Frontenac, and engaged with the
from Queen’s University (Kingston,
Ontario), joined one of
the teams on the Crotch
Lake circuit. John’s
experience and campfire
talk gave the team a real
insight into canoe-life in
Canada. The Mawaska
River, despite taking up
only two days, proved to
be the highlight of the
trip. A late spring and a
particularly wet July
meant that the river was
very high. Kinston,
Ottawa, Toronto and
Niagara all provided
6
 Art
I t has been a busy and exciting start to the school year
for the Art Department, with many visits to galleries
and museums taking place, and House Art taking over
the Gallery.

L ife drawing classes have

begun in earnest, taking
place once every two weeks
for Year 12 and 13 students.
Within the first couple of weeks of the new school Pate’s is one of only a few
year, Year 10 spent the day at Nature in Art at schools in Gloucestershire that
Twigworth, gathering resources and ideas for their provides this opportunity to
first coursework project, Natural Forms. Students its students, an opportunity
took part in a wire sculpture workshop, met Robert that is paramount in
Cox, the artist in residence, and sat in the sunshine improving students’ drawing
sketching from sculptures within the grounds. skills, enabling them to create
A week later, Year 12 and 13 students travelled to an exciting portfolio of work
London to visit the Tate Modern and Tate Britain. in the process.
Students were able to experience a wide range of
traditional and contemporary artwork, and to select
artists that will influence their personal projects. With
a range of work exhibited within these galleries, all
students came away inspired and buzzing with ideas,
looking forward to getting back into the classroom to
start their own masterpieces!

A small group of Sixth formers went to

hear Antony Gormley – the sculptor
who created the Angel of the North - and
sculpture and photography. The
involvement of students throughout the
school in this competition must be
Quentin Blake, among others, talk about commended; we have been inundated
their work and their personal, creative with high quality entries once again. For
processes. This was such a fantastic day the first time the competition was opened
(for students and staff!), highlighting up to staff, proving that it is not just the
students who are creative!
And, as if we couldn’t fit
In October, Year 9 visited the Pitt Rivers Museum and anything else into an
the Natural History Museum in Oxford. These are two already packed year we
fascinating, exceptional museums with over five million have had our Artist in
artefacts and specimens, including dinosaur skeletons, Residence, Simon
fossils, shrunken heads, textiles, jewellery, ceramics and Packard, during
weaponry – almost too much to pack into a single day! December, and Year 11, 12
and 13 students will be
jetting off to New York in
February half term…!

different facets of art and

design and the possibilities
within these. We returned
with autographs and the
feeling that we would just like
to sit down with Quentin
Blake and have a cup of tea
with him!
During House Art, the Gallery
was bursting at the seams, full
of work responding to the
theme of ‘Viewpoints’ with
every House displaying a
range of drawing, painting,

7
 World Links
Link Ethiopia
I n 2009, Link Ethiopia was set up as part of
the current Year 9’s Year 8 Leadership and
Community lessons. Our task was to set up a
project within either our local area, country or
with an international one, in order to help
people and contribute to an outside
community. In my group, 8RY of last year, we
decided that we would like to make a
difference to the lives of those outside our
country. We felt that it would benefit others by
giving them support and introducing them to
another culture; consequently it would be a
valuable experience for us and we could
develop skills that we could use in later life,
such as fundraising and leadership. When
carrying out our research we found Link
Ethiopia. Link Ethiopia was founded over 10
years ago and has dedicated its work to The team headed by Mr Bruce
helping and supporting the education system
in Ethiopia. When we looked into the current culture and background to help us contributing to their university success. On
education system in Ethiopia we were understand what it is like being a student in a Wednesday 15th July 2009, the Link Ethiopia
shocked to discover that not every child is very different country. In the future we hope team alongside Mr Bruce, our teacher link co-
fortunate enough to go to school; facilities to set up an Internet blog with them. We also coordinator, and the rest of the teachers at
within the current schools are very basic and hope to raise money to provide extra Pate’s organised an Ethiopian day for
the resources are inadequate for the students. resources for the students of Tana Haik. students. Many African-related activities took
Tana Haik is the school we have been linked Currently they only have one computer used place, which involved all the students and
with. It is home to 4199 pupils, with a total of for administration, but that is about to change! they spread awareness about the link.
37 classrooms and class sizes of over 65! As it We are all very proud to say that Pate’s has A huge thank you goes to Mr Bruce and the
is not possible to fit all the students into the succeeded in raising over £2,000 so far for rest of the teachers at Pate’s for their help and
school in one go, the school operates a shift Tana Haik, which will provide some support during the preparations and the
system where half of the students come to computers for the students to use and training running of Ethiopia day and also to the
school in the morning and the other half in the for the teachers. At Pate’s we take for granted students at Pate’s for taking part and
afternoon. The aim of the link is for both the facilities we have and the opportunities we contributing to helping our link school.
Pate’s and Tana Haik to have regular are given. The computers will provide basic
communications with students from another skills that will help set students up for life, Ellie Wilson 9R

Africa Flexible
Learning Day
Finally, at 2:45pm the whole school
came back together in the hall for a

P
ate’s has just set up a link with a
secondary school in Ethiopia called Tana
Haik and much of the money raised on
Charity Day this year went towards
providing Tana Haik with its first
computers for the 4,000 students to use. To
give Pate’s students a feel for the cultural
differences and issues facing students in
Africa, the day before Charity Day saw our
African Flexible Learning Day where
students across the whole school were
engaged in activities related to Africa.
Assembly began with students learning
how to greet each other in Swahili and then
Nicki Storey, a former student, gave an
inspiring presentation about her time in
Ethiopia working with charities.
Students then dispersed across school to a
huge range of different activities for the
middle part of the day. Year 7-10 students
were involved with:
African art – print work and making masks
African Music - singing and a drumming
workshop.
Scrap Recycling – making toys and jewellery
out of aluminium cans, wire and bottle tops
African Safari – making presentations about
some of Africa’s wildlife and conservation
issues.
Water for Africa – making systems to raise
and purify water.
Drama - stories from Africa,an African drama
workshop.
celebratory “showcasing” of all that
had gone on during the day, with
photos, video, interviews and
performances highlighting all the
fantastic work that had been produced
in the preceding four hours! This final
gathering clearly did justice to an
impressive day where Pate’s students
showed once again how impressive
they are in throwing themselves into
new challenges, grappling with difficult
issues and working together across age
group and year group boundaries to
produce extremely high quality
Shanty Town – in families, students built their outcomes.
own shanty house out of cardboard on the
field and then had a role play exercise where
they were set different challenges and tasks to
do.
A Newspaper in a Day –
25 students produced a fantastic 16-page
newspaper looking at African issues and
reporting on all the activities going on around
school.
The Sixth Form spent the morning in a mock
United Nations, set up in the hall, where
groups of students represented different
countries around the world and discussed the
issue of aid, using currant buns unequally
distributed to represent the relative wealth of
the different countries! In the afternoon there
was a series of workshops covering a variety
of African issues, including AIDS, street
children, African politics and African films.

8
 Enterprising
Make Your Mark recycling service called “Skippy Scrappage”. Mark Milton, Oscar Miller, James Fesemeyer

Challenge 2009
The service provided a number of skips and Mohammed Moolla.
around Cheltenham for people to be able to

Y
recycle their old kettles, toasters, TVs, etc, free Mrs Howell
of charge and more conveniently than
ear 12 Economics and Business students
using landfill. Revenue would be
took part in the annual national enterprise
generated from the metal weight within
challenge, along with 73,000 other students, as
each skip, which was estimated at £8 a
part of Enterprise Week on Monday 16th
cubic metre, and from advertising space
November. The brief this year was to “Develop
on the skips.
a cool creation with low carbon credentials
Skippy Scrappage were entered into the
based on a local inspiration”. Six Pate’s teams
national Make Your Mark competition
spent the day in school creating a new
and were selected as Regional Finalists,
invention or innovating an existing product or
held at The Watershed Media Centre in
service. They had just over four hours to
Bristol on Friday 27th November.
develop their idea, research competitors and
Despite a professional pitch and great
estimate their first year profit, before having to
acting by Oscar Miller, they narrowly
pitch to judges within school. The team in full swing in Bristol
missed out on reaching the national
The winning school team, led by Henry
final. The team consisted of Henry
Bradley, developed an electrical goods
Bradley (Captain), Karim Tair-El-Bar,

Economics and Business Trip Frankfurt “You like it in Frankfurt?”

O ur enthusiastic and ardent tour guide
revitalised our excitement for the banking
city of Germany, the financial capital of
for the high-quality applewine. This was
followed by a tasting session of the wide
variety of applewine produced at the factory,
echoes the production of Vauxhall cars around
the world. We left Frankfurt in the early hours
totally overwhelmed by the historical and
Europe. We weren’t only introduced to the complimented with a round of pretzels as well. cultural essence of the modern banking city
banking history of the city, but also the cultural
and historical account of the beautiful city.
The economic relevance of this trip involved
visits to the European Central Bank and the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange, while our visits to
the Opel car factory and Possmann applewine
factory increased our business knowledge.
Entering the European Central Bank (ECB)
involved a high degree of security but once
inside we were educated on the main tasks of
the ECB. Today, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange
is an international trading centre, which is also
reflected in the structure of its participants, of
whom some 140 of around 300 market
participants come from abroad. As well as
receiving an idiot’s guide to the structure and
workings of the Stock Exchange, our visit
involved observing the trading floor from the
visitors’ gallery. Overall, the economic
relevance of the trip was extensive; introducing
us to two large European establishments which
Say “cheese”
directly relate to the UK economy.
Valuable business experience was gained from
our visits to the Opel factory and Possmann Our final activity was our visit to the Opel car and content that we had all had such a
factory. The history of applewine in and factory in Russelheim. Adam Opel was the wonderful and educational experience. We
around Frankfurt Main, Germany goes back founder of the brand, which has produced were asked frequently “You like it in
over 1,200 years. Frankfurt Main represents the sewing machines, bicycles, motorbikes, cars Frankfurt?” and yes we did!
heart of German applewine culture. Our guide and even refrigerators under the family
at the factory revealed the fermenting process business. It is owned by General Motors and Dana Singh 13BG

Building Development at Pate’s

W e have now started a £5 million building
development programme to update the
Building Work Already
Completed
Mrs Park

school buildings and facilities. Twelve projects
have been identified and these include a new
Fitness Suite, a re-organisation of the Science
Laboratories, Information Technology-
enhanced classrooms, and new Food
Technology, Drama and Outdoor Pursuits
classrooms; but the flagship project is a new
Sixth Form Centre and Refectory. The
development will be funded by a mixture of
Government funding and support from the
Pate’s Foundation, from which we already have
£3.5 million. However, we need to raise and
additional £1.5 million through our own
efforts. We have already reached £100, 000 in
gifts and pledges through the generosity of
many individuals, for which we are extremely
grateful.
O
ver the last two summer holidays, two of
our science labs have been redesigned and
refurbished . The labs now have smartboards,
multimedia projectors and modern, movable
furniture to allow a flexible learning
environment. A Fitness Suite has also been
constructed in the attic space above the
changing rooms. There has been extensive
development of our Information Technology
resources and infrastructure. We now have a
new server room with significant upgrades to
server performance and storage capacity,
which has given us a resilient, reliable high- The new IT suite
performance network to serve our school
community and its ever growing use of ICT.

9
 Learning and beyond
How to Explore the Andrew Newsam, a Reader

Universe A tale of telescopes, time

travel and extra-terrestrials as 35 Year 9
pupils, with Mrs Harding and Mr Head,
attended a lecture at St. Edward’s School,
organised by the Institute of Physics. 2009
was the International Year of Astronomy
(IYA) celebrating the 400th anniversary of
Galileo’s use of the telescope to study the
night sky. The IYA is intended to stimulate
interest not only in astronomy but in science
in general, with a particular slant towards
young people. The show involved hands-on
demonstrations, giving students the
opportunity to do some astronomy
themselves using some of the most advanced
telescopes in the world. The main points that
we took from the lecture were that due to
progress in technology astronomers can now
observe things further and further away and,
therefore, further back in time; astronomical
observations can be used to learn more about
in Astronomy Education at
The Astrophysics Research
Institute, Liverpool John
Moores University, where
he specialises in turning sets
of astronomical data into a
collection of useful numbers
that can be used in science.
Dr Newsam is also Director
of the National Schools
Observatory (NSO), a
project aimed at giving
school children the
opportunity to make their
own observations alongside
professional astronomers on
top-quality telescopes. Due
to the late arrival of our
the origins and future of the universe; modern
coach, we were fortunate to benefit from the
telescopes can be used by astronomers to look
opportunity to ask lots of extra questions,
at the universe in ever greater detail.
which were answered with enthusiasm.
The lively lecture was presented by Dr

Partnerships in
Learning
Oxford University,

T
London’s Royal Society
and Airbus, Bristol. On
he Cheltenham Independent and State the final day, the pupils
Schools Partnership (ISSP) is managed by used their new-found
Pate’s Grammar School. This project aims to expertise to rise to the
enhance the aspirations of gifted and talented ‘Flying Start Challenge’ of
pupils from seven Cheltenham schools building an aircraft
towards higher education. 2009 was a very powered by an elastic
busy year with over 14 separate events, band; the winners
including a sport’s science day, an engineering designed the aircraft that
day, a science day and a spy day. The year stayed airborne for the
culminated in a summer school held at Dean longest time.
Close Junior School with the theme ‘The sky is
not the limit’. 120 Year 10 pupils were treated J McKechnie
to a programme of events, including visits to

A Taste of China comes to Pate’s

A s part of our Inter-State School Partnership (ISSP), we hosted our
first event of this academic year. Around 80 students from five
local schools, Pate’s, Winchcome, Pittville, Bournside and Christ
College, participated in an action-packed day entitled ‘A Taste of
China’. The students who took part were all studying languages from
Years 9 and 10. During the course of the day, they attended a variety of
students an opportunity to ample typical Chinese snacks.
This they did with trepidation but most reported that the Zongzi,
which is a special kind of dumpling usually made of glutinous rice and
wrapped in bamboo, was delicious! The day was a huge success and
our very grateful thanks go to the Chinese Children and Parents
Association for providing a wonderful array of activities which really
gave all involved ‘A Taste of China.’

workshops ranging from Kung Fu to Origami to Mandarin for Tourists,

all equally challenging and enjoyable. As part of the event, all students
and tutors enjoyed a fantastic Chinese buffet lunch to help everyone
fully immerse themselves in the Chinese culture. A Chinese Café ran Sharon Stratford
throughout the day, demonstrating the tea ceremony and giving
10

David Davies MP
Pate’s Lecture
Autumn 2009
T
he Pate’s Lecture Series continues to attract
nationally renowned speakers. Recently we
have enjoyed the visits of social entrepreneur
Lord Mawson. Professor Burland of Imperial
College London, lead engineer in the project to
stabilise the Tower of Pisa, Anne Widdecombe
MP and Sir David Pepper, Director General of
GCHQ. In October, the Pate’s Lecture was
delivered by David Davies MP. Grammar
school educated, David Davies has had a
distinguished career. He has been Minister of
State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
(1994-1997), Conservative Party Chairman and
Shadow Deputy Prime Minister. Between 2003
and 2008 he was the Shadow Home Secretary
Professor John Sharpey-Schafer - Cheltenham Grammar School 1949-1957
D uring my time at Cheltenham Grammar
School I was awarded one third of the
Upper Sixth Physics prize (a dictionary!) for
being the first boy at the school to get over 80%
in all three physics papers and in the practical
exam (tough in those days!). I also managed to
squeeze into King’s College at Cambridge. I left
Cambridge for Liverpool in 1960 to do a PhD
in nuclear physics. In 1964 I gained my PhD,
was appointed to a lectureship and became the
leader of one of the two largest research groups
in nuclear physics. In 1966/7 I had a year’s
leave-of-absence at the Chalk River
Laboratories of the Atomic Energy of Canada
Ltd. I learnt all about the new high resolution
gamma-ray technologies they had developed.
I was very privileged indeed at Liverpool to
supervise 25 PhDs, six of whom are now
professors, six are leading research scientists
Dream Realised
Football fan and Pate’s old boy Jon Palmer has
landed the football followers dream job. For
the last three years Jon has been the chief
football writer for the Gloucestershire Echo, in
effect the voice of the Robins.
After a journalism degree at Southampton
University, Jon did some freelance work
before taking over from the legendary Derek
Goddard at the “Echo”. During his time there,
he witnessed Cheltenham Town secure one
promotion and one relegation and has taken
coverage of their exploits to new levels in his
paper.
A goalkeeper in his football days at Pate’s, Jon
has also found time to write two books about
the club’s history, “Cheltenham Town FC, 50
Greats” and Cheltenham Town FC – Classic
Matches”. Jon is now highly respected by the
players and backroom staff at the Robins.
Football is not just his job, it is his passion.
Alumni
in the Shadow Cabinet, under both Michael At Pate’s, David Davies talked about the
Howard and David Cameron. Davies had erosion of civil liberties in the light of the rise of
previously been a candidate for the leadership anti-terror legislation. He also challenged Pate’s
of the Conservative Party in 2001 and 2005, students that their privileged education here
coming fourth and then second. Recently he implied that they needed to make a difference
has also been a vocal supporter of grammar in their communities or professional life later
school education. even if, as in his case, standing up for their
On 12 June 2008, in a surprising and values harmed their own career prospects.
controversial move, Davies announced his
intention to resign as an MP, and was
immediately replaced as Shadow Home
Secretary. This was in order to force a by-
election in his seat, for which he intended to
seek re-election by mounting a specific
campaign designed to provoke wider public
debate about the erosion of civil liberties in the
UK.
As a backbencher he has continued to
campaign for civil liberties. His principled David Davies MP with the Head Master and old boy,
stand probably damaged his career in politics Mark Coote, prospective Parliamentary Candidates for
but he believed in the issues too much to stand Cheltenham
by.
and the rest are scattered about industry.
Together we had great successes. In 1983 and
1986 we made major discoveries of a very
Since then I have been lecturing on quantum
mechanics and nuclear physics to a Graduate
School (MSc) that I set up with the two
elongated form of nuclear matter – “Historically Black Universities” of Western
“superdeformed” nuclei. These discoveries and Cape and Zululand. I am now back into
their follow-ups made a major new test of the research and I am currently supervising three
quantum theories of nuclei. They have PhD and several MSc postgraduates.
established nuclear spectroscopy as a leading
science and the technologies and resulting
physics are a major part of most of the new
developments currently proposed in our
subject.
I moved on to become the Director of the
“National Accelerator Centre” outside Cape
Town in July 1995. I managed to save the
laboratory from closure in 2001 and changed
its name to iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator
Based Sciences (iThemba LABS) in 2002 and I
John (right) with a ‘Jolly Miller’ in Tibet.
retired in 2005.
A new teachers’
first impressions
until the wreath had been laid. Moments later,
I
a simple nod from the Head was all that was
required to send the students quietly back to
was asked to write a short paragraph about continue with their lessons, many of whom
my first thoughts of Pate’s. A question my stopped to thank and congratulate the young
friends, family and past pupils have been man who had played for them.
asking me a lot over the last few months is When I sat down I considered the fact that in
“how’s the new school?” After some thought I not a single one of the schools I have known in
always reply “different”. This is as succinct as I my time could any of that have happened.
can be about such a change as I’ve experienced The Pate’s experience for me has been in a
in coming to teach here. In almost every way it large part dominated by the maturity and
can be, Pate’s is the polar opposite of my last professionalism of most of its students, their
school. In some ways that’s a good thing and in ability to manage themselves, their talents and
others, a bad thing (mostly it’s a good thing!) their willingness to share them with the school
I was considering my task shortly after the community, and their emotional intelligence.
short Remembrance Day service on This one event brought all these facets of the
Wednesday the 11th of November. The event school together. It was a beautiful experience.
itself was a sort of microcosmic encapsulation
of many of the features that make it special to
teach here. The service involved no adults
except for one teacher to ring the bell on the
hour from within the school. Students arrived
quickly and quietly and arranged themselves
in the quad with the minimum of direction. A
talented young man sounded the Last Post
beautifully in front of all his peers as
representatives of the CCF stood by with flag
and wreath. The school stood in contemplative
silence and after the end of the two minutes, Mr Declan Flemming
remained in silence without further instruction
11
 T he Pate’s Grammar School U16 development
“Memorable,
squads returned from South Africa in August
after undergoing some challenging, highly
Humbling and
emotional and culturally life-changing
experiences.
Emotional”
The twenty-four-strong tour began their 16 day
campaign in Cape Town, in what was reminiscent
of a typical British winter’s day: rain, wind and
floods! The newspapers were full of reports of the
worse rainfall in 50 years. This prompted
memories amongst the accompanying staff of the
2007 Australia tour, when the news on the other
side of the world was the unprecedented UK
summer flooding, particularly in Gloucestershire.
To help get over the long flight, the first day saw a being on Robben Island. Mr Mandela was an
short visit to a cheetah sanctuary but this was
followed by the first netball match against the
Western Provincial Team – Pate’s experienced an
early defeat in this fixture but, after dusting off the abolishment of apartheid,
cobwebs, the team showed promise for the rest of
the forthcoming matches.
No sooner had the girls come off court, than the
squads were back on the coach and travelling
across town to play hockey against Wynberg Girls’
School. Pate’s started promisingly, going into an
early lead and maintaining this to a half-time
score of 1-0. However, Wynberg used the second
half as a practice opportunity for their own
upcoming tour to Malaysia and put their Senior XI
against the young Pate’s team. The girls did well
with the final score being a credible 2-1 to
Wynberg.
"Robben Island was intense, enhanced by the
fact that our tour guide had been a prisoner
there" Jess Stamp the school collection before the tour. Their
To celebrate the end of a memorable first day in burst into tears. One of the Pate’s girls, Maddie
South Africa, the squads enjoyed some cultural
evening entertainment at Moyo’s, where they
sampled South African cuisine and were
introduced to African dancing.
Over the next few days, the Pate’s tour
interspersed tourist visits with matches. The
squad bounced back during their second
fixture with an emphatic victory against
Bergvliet High School, both at netball and on
the hockey field.
Tourist trips included taking a Peninsular Tour
down to the Cape of Good Hope, the most
poignant, moving and thought-provoking
being a visit to the prison known as Robben
Island. Here, a former prisoner escorted the
group on a tour of the facility where political
prisoners were held during apartheid, the most
famous captive being Nelson Mandela, who
was held captive for 27 years, some 19 of these
anti-apartheid activist and became the
country’s president in 1994 in the first fully
representative election following the
Then came the most emotional and humbling
fixtures of the tour, the Township Tour, playing
against Langa Netball and Belhar Hockey
Clubs. Belhar Hockey Club was formed only
four years ago, with the sole incentive of
keeping young male and female children off
the streets and free from the risk of drugs. They
turned up in the back of a local church “meals
on wheels” van as they had been unable to
afford the taxi fares to the fixture. The girls,
aged between 12 and 16, showed tremendous
commitment and courage, and a determination
to try their best. Even though they were losing
2-0 quite early on in the fixture, they kept their
heads high.
After the fixture had ended, the Pate’s squad
presented the club with kit, sticks and
equipment that we had taken out with us from
reaction was extremely touching, as their coach
Leitch, understanding and responding to their
pleasure and their plight, then responded by
taking the astro boots off her own feet and
adding these to the gifts.
 Girls Sports Tour to South Africa 2009
W e then headed off to the suburb of
Langa, completely different from any
other suburb that we had visited on the tour.
lessons. At the end of
the matches we went to
“Big Mamma’s House”
and lion - as well as see the
hippopos at St. Lucia. What a
memorable experience –
Walking into the village sports hall, we were for some more African enhanced by the aptly named
inundated by lots of children within minutes cuisine. “Hawk Eye” of Mrs Dandy,
of our arrival. They were seeking the who could spot any animal
opportunity to gain attention and be A flight to Durban within a one kilometre radius.
photographed by the girls. marked the beginning
of the second stage of
the tour. Commencing "The safari was fantastic,
with a visit to Hluhluwe and the whole trip was an
on safari, hoping to see amazing experience"
the “Big Five” – buffalo, Holly Hill
rhino, elephant, leopard

We were victorious in these fixtures,

though I think that the girls all
learned some much more valuable

The first match was in Pietermaritzburg, The tour ended up with

another transfer required, and that is when the three wins for hockey and
outbreak began! We were struck by a severe two wins for netball from
sickness bug that ended with over two thirds the four contested
of the squad being affected and culminating in fixtures each team had.
a temporary doctor’s surgery being set up in At the end of tour meal,
the base. The match against Voortrekker High Charlotte Armer was
School became a friendly fixture, as we could given the “Best Tourist”
only field 9 out of the 24 strong squad, with Award, with Holly Hill
Pate’s being victorious in the hockey. being awarded “Best
Hockey Tourist” and
"The view from Table Mountain was Emma Gabbott being
fantastic and unforge-able" Katrina Amos awarded “Best Netball
Tourist”.
Finishing off the tour back in Durban we
The girls have returned
arrived with, by then, 24 fit and healthy girls,
with some unforgettable
ready for our last remaining fixture against
memories and
Northland’s High School. Pate’s had two
experiences that will live
convincing wins on the netball courts before
with them forever. They
transferring to the astro turf for what proved
have returned focused
to be a hard fought hockey match. Wanting to
towards their sport,
end the tour with a clean sweep, Pate’s fought
all the way to the bitter end scoring the match
resulting in a term which has seen the most “Playing against the South African Teams
successful results the school has had for many
winner with just three minutes of the game
years in the county rounds of the National
was a really good experience”
remaining.
Schools Tournaments for Kat Coleby
hockey and netball.

13
 Sport
Dream trip for Lions’ Mascot Max!
Stefan leads U15
cricketers to repeat P ate’s rugby player Max Rooley was
given the sporting trip of a lifetime

final victory.
when he became the winner of an HSBC
Daily Telegraph competition in May. A

I
nspired by an excellent all round display from
“Man of the Match” Stefan Franklin, the U15
cricket team repeated their 2008 triumph by beating
County Champions Cotswold School in the district
final in July.
Pate’s reached 134 for 9 in 30 overs. Franklin top
scored with a blistering 45 and a valuable 50 run
stand between Xander Seddon (31 not out) and Joe
Sharp (19) helped set a useful target.
lunchtime phone call from mum Claire
confirmed that Max was to be the British
Lions’ official mascot for the first test in
Durban in June.
Max’s best memory is being on the pitch in
Durban before the start, taking it all in. “I
couldn’t believe the noise in the stadium, it
was totally awesome. Even a narrow 26, 21
defeat at the hands of the Springboks could Max coming out on the pitch with Paul O’Connell
not dampen the memory of a fabulous trip”.

Rugby continues
Cotswold were always in trouble, as tight bowling
by skipper Callum Carson, Matt Williams and a
three wicket haul from Franklin reduced Cotswold

to flourish at Pate’s
to 15 for 5, 38 for 7 and an eventual 87 all out.

P
John Berry
ate’s teams have produced some
expansive and winning rugby while
playing with outstanding team spirit. The
fixture list has become more challenging this
season with Cheltenham College, Bishop’s
Hereford and Cokethorpe all additions to
complete a strong set of fixtures.
The U13s and U14s have fielded both A and
B teams and beaten some strong rugby
schools, winning over 85% of their fixtures.
The U15s still have an unbeaten run going
back to December 2008 but unfortunately
went out of the National Daily Mail Cup on
tries scored, after drawing 18-18 with rivals
Callum and Stefan with District Cup Chosen Hill.

Carson and Morris

With 60 senior players, the 3 teams have
trained hard and improved both their
performance and understanding of how to

stand a school cricket

win games. The 2nd XV, in particular, have
had an outstanding season. The 1st XV have

record had a good run in the Daily Mail Cup. The

S
senior squad is busy fund-raising for their
chool sporting records are difficult to assess but July 2010 tour to Argentina.

Girls’ netball
it is believed that the 1st wicket stand of 158
nearly matched this success. Losing only

this summer by Callum Carson and Mark Morris
is a record for any wicket in Pate’s history. Carson
(108) hit 10 sixes and Morris (50) made their mark
in a County Cup victory against Wydean for the
U14 team. This is Carson’s second century for
Pate’s, after a 112 not out against Sir Thomas Rich’s
A
squad of 11 girls from Year 10 and 11
represented the school at the county
round.
This meant the team qualified for the finals
one match out of seven in their section
meant the team qualified for the semi-final.
A win here would have meant qualification
for regionals but they narrowly lost out to a
strong Dean Close team.
At the U18 Tournament, Pate’s went through

Goalkicker Joe in
U13 team last year. as winners of their group and met Farmors
School in the semi-final. to the semi-finals as second in the group.
They won the match, meaning that the team Pate’s had to play an extremely talented

excellent form!
had qualified for the regional finals! All the Hartpury side, who went on to win the final
against Chosen Hill in convincing style.

Y
ear 8 rugby centre and goal kicker Joe Gare has
hit excellent form for the school’s U13 team.
Up to the middle of November he hit 25
conversions, three penalties and scored six tries for
a total of 89 points so far. Joe practises his kicking
at lunchtime at school and also at his club, Coney
Hill RFC. At present, his record is an amazing 90%.
team played some brilliant netball
throughout the afternoon.
In a tense final against Cheltenham Ladies’
College the match was drawn at full time.
After two minutes of extra time, the score
was 8-7 to Cheltenham Ladies’ College!
At the U14 County Tournament, the squad
Overall this was the best performance from
Pate’s teams in recent years; in every County
Tournament Pate’s played in the finals, and
qualified for the Regional Round in the U16
age group.

Will sets personal best in

English schools 800 metre
final
Year 10 student Will Paulson set a personal best
800 metres time (2.03.28) in the Junior Boys’ final at
the English Schools’ Championships in July.

The Team
14

Girls’ Tennis
T W
he Pate’s U13 Aegeon Team Tennis team
of Mary Hartley, Rhiana Hande, Gemma
Ford and Millie Stone repeated last year’s
success in winning the county round of the
National Schools Competition and travelled
to Bristol to play in the regional round.
Here, unfortunately, they had to play Talbot
Heath School in the quarter final – the team
they lost to in the final last year. This is a
school with a tennis centre of excellence
attached, so it was always going to be very
difficult to beat them!
The team is pictured in the new team tennis
school hoodies.
They now look forward to another successful
summer season.
Super Sub Harry
helps Robins to
pre season victory
S
ixth former Harry Sharp teamed up with
former Premier League footballers Barry
Hayles and Elvis Hammond during
Cheltenham Town’s 2-1 win at Western Super
Mare in July. Replacing Justin Richards in the
71st minute, striker Harry had one shot saved
by the home goalkeeper, while another effort
sailed wide. The Pate’s student teamed up
with Robin’s legend Julian Alsop in a 4-4-2
formation.
Harry’s selection was reward for being
named “Man of the Match” in a supporters’
team which took on the League Two club in
May. Harry is now playing in the school’s 1st
rugby XV as back row forward.
Harry scored two tries in Pate’s 33-7 victory
in the Daily Mail Cup first round win at
Newent in September.
Fitness Suite
ith the building work for the new fitness
suite complete, fundraising for
equipment has begun. Just before the October
half-term the first of the fundraising events
took place, in the form of a non-uniform day
and a sponsored run (or walk). Both proved
very successful, with all pupils (and many
staff) getting involved. Despite a drop of rain
in the air, the run was very successful with
participants completing the one kilometre in a
style of their choice. This ranged from
running, walking, carrying a friend, walking
on all fours, and many more entertaining
fashions. Most importantly, however, lots of
money was raised through the generosity of
Pate’s associates. A very successful “Auction of
Promises”, evening was held in November.
This rare occasion of Pate’s raising money for
Pate’s permeates from the eagerness to get the
Girls’ Hockey
I
t has been a good start to the hockey season
for the girls, with all teams losing only one
match and drawing three to date.
The U18, U16 and U14 hockey teams have
played in the National Schools Tournaments
this term.
The U18 team played four matches, winning
two, drawing one match and losing to Dean
Close, which made the team runners-up in the
section. We then played a cross-over match
against the winners of the other section
Cheltenham College, unfortunately losing 0-2
in a hard, fast-paced game. They were eventual
winners, beating Dean Close 1-0 in the final. A
great achievement nontheless for the girls to
reach the semi-finals.
The U16 team played seven matches all
counting towards qualification in a round robin
league. The team played some exciting hockey
The “Volcano” backs Girls’ Rounders
and allowed only three goals through during
Pate’s Argentina
Rugby Tour
G
loucester and England rugby winger
Lesley “the Volcano” Vainicolo was on
hand recently at Sainsbury’s Tewkesbury
Road, Cheltenham to support the school’s
rugby tour fundraising. Several of the tourists
were bag packing to add to the tour funds,
when Lesley spent time with them, asking
them about the school and the tour, posing for
photographs and contributing generously to
the tour fund. Pate’s Grammar School rugby
thanks Lesley for his generosity and wishes
him and his family well.
Sport
fitness suite up and running as soon a possible.
Once this happens, the suite will play an
integral part of the Physical Education
curriculum, as well as offering fantastic
training facilities for both our keen athletes
and those merely wanting to keep fit.
the day, winning three, drawing three and
losing one match to Cheltenham College, the
overall winners. The girls were a very
successful third.
The U14 team played four matches in their
section winning three and losing only the first
match to Cheltenham College 0-2. We then
played a cross over semi-final against the
winners of the other section Dean Close, who
had won all their matches convincingly. The
match was very close and the girls played some
lovely flowing hockey, beating them 2-1 to take
them into the final. We had a long and hard
match against Cheltenham Ladies’ College,
unable to put our chances away in normal time.
The girls had to play extra time, again finding it
hard to realise our chances against a well
organised defence. They finally put the ball in
the back of the net, winning 1-0. They are the
U14 County National School Champions and
qualified to play in the regional round in
November.
During the U12 District Tournament matches
were played against Bournside, Cotswold,
Balcarras and St. Edward’s. Pate’s won all their
matches apart from a draw to St Edwards 5½-
5½. This led to a joint win in the league with St.
Edward’s sharing the trophy as District
Champions.
The U13 District Tournament was held at
Balcarras School. In Pate’s section matches were
played against Chosen Hill, Christ College and
Winchcombe.
The squad won all their games in the section
going into a three-way final with St. Edward’s
and Bournside. The U13s played beautifully
winning the games 13-4 and 13½ -3 respectively
to be crowned District Champions.
The U14 District Tournament was held at
Pittville School and Pate’s played against
Pittville, Bournside, Winchcombe and Cotswold
in their section. They won all their matches
apart from a close defeat to Cotswold 4-6. This
enabled them to qualify in second place and
play Cheltenham Ladies’ College in the semi-
final. Pate’s won this tight fought match 5-3,
which meant they again met Cotswold in the
final. This time, Pate’s were victorious, winning
the game by 8 rounders over 20 good balls and
becoming District Champions.
15
 Drama
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare
Directed by Rory O’Sullivan.
F or A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
O’Sullivan Productions wove an exotic
garland with which to enchant its audience.
Sargeant) ruled the court like Hollywood
glitterati. However, we were not convinced
that they had persuaded Egeus (Duncan
The greenwood was entwined with Mitchell), a crusty old southern general, of
Hollywood and more than a hint of vaudeville the merits of Hermia’s match. Philostrate
to create a captivating (Fred Derbyshire)
show. Dance, Jazz remained throughout the
and the classical court’s dry and
theatre was sprinkled unflappable butler.
with some glittering Titania’s fairies (Mia
comic performances Nashe, Jamie Horseman,
to render us under its Jaina Patel, Susie Bagnall,
spell. Lucy Smith, Maisy
Gemma Wheeler Ainsworth, Alice Gwynn
(Helena), George & Amy Jackson) and her
Orman (Lysander), page (Paurakh Paudyal)
Becky Masding brought grace and
(Hermia) and Oscar
Miller (Demetrius) ‘Let’s Do It’ – which everyone obviously did.
were the earnest and The Pate’s audience is in danger of becoming
bemused lovers reduced to mere play things complacent. Every November the production
by the fairies. Their conflicts and confusions values of the previous year seem to be topped.
were acted with aplomb by this tightly Time, enthusiasm and unsung effort produced
rehearsed quartet. Excellent physical comedy such a show. Mike Williams & Clive Yates
and witty delivery marked out the ensemble, constructed a large slice of woodland on the
whose romantic twists and turns formed a stage which cleverly incorporated a slide for
strong strand in the production leading us to the delight of the fairies (dance co-ordinator
their eventual nuptials. Lizzie Fortin). Debbie Reid’s choreographic
The greenwood juxtaposed that of 20th expertise was plain to see as were the efforts
century America but in both the path of true of the whole production team on Jack Andrew
love proved equally topsy-turvy. The lovers’ and Rebecca Etherington’s well managed
woes were initiated by the lively and stage.
mischievous Puck No Pate’s show happens without the ‘techies’
(Zach Mobley) (Dan Bishop, Finlay Shakespeare, Josh Price,
whose elegance to the proceedings with dance and Tom Roles, James Melvin, Tom Hayward).
intercessions on exquisite acapella.
behalf of the The chorus (too
commanding many to mention
Oberon (Will but you were
Valori) were great) danced their
dextrously legs off and
performed. flapped with the
Oberon’s proud best of them, while
Titania (Georgie the jazz band
du Mello Kenyon) (Tomoya Forster,
remained stately and aloof until falling under Jack Riley, Emily
the unlikely spell of the affable Bottom Alsworth, Ned
(Patrick Reid). Falconer & Will
The mechanicals were another highlight. Weir), directed
Borrowing inventively from some great from the piano by
Hollywood prototypes, they provided the Jonathan
added pleasure of spotting the inspiration for McNaught,
each. Luke Rollason (Quince / Groucho Marx) accompanied
took charge of his band of players with verve, Shona Pratt’s feisty
a cigar and that walk. Luke Skears (Snug / vocals; opening
Chico Marx) was an Italian American with an most appropriately
excellent sideline in lion impersonations. The with Cole Porter’s
barking delivery of Jamie Park (Robin /
Harpo Marx) was a good joke for those
with (or without) a familiarity with the Their cool when the lighting board failed five
role model. Sam Lawrence (Snout / minutes before curtain was considerable. Rory
Irish American) brought dignity to his Lucas (lighting) had it stripped down and
wall whilst Daisy Follett (Flute / and a fixed before we noticed; fantastic. As were the
hint of Jackie Coogan) played both back costumes, sets and make-up (Felicia Britton,
yard tom-boy and star-crossed lover Lotti Wilkinson, Hannah Robson, Frankie
with sparkle. Transformed into Patterson & Savannah De Villez).
Pyramus and Thisbe she and Bottom However, we save last applause for Rory and
rounded off the lovers’ wedding Jackie O’Sullivan who bring together the
celebrations with a masterly serving of school’s considerable talents and make it all
ham and slap-stick. Theseus (Mike happen.
Stephenson) and his Hippolyta (Rosie
Nigel Gardner

16