3rd july 2020 #remtelearig reflecting on the year
TRANSCRIPT
Reflecting on the Year
It was not the end of year celebration that we all had in mind, but that wouldn't stop the traditional Commemoration and Prize Giving Service taking place, this time streaming online to the world. Enjoy this edition of the courier which celebrates achievements and looks back over the year. ...and much more
2The Senior Courier
#STAYINGSAFEATHOME
#REMOTELEARNING
How is it possible to summarise the strangest of terms?... by Lee Glaser, Headmaster
I must start with our students. The way you have engaged with your learning over this past 10 weeks has been exemplary. I have nothing
but admiration for you. It has always annoyed me when older generations have described you as snowflakes. You have stood up and shown resilience when it mattered, probably more than you could have imagined. I have loved sitting in on lessons, watching drama debates concerts scholarship sessions CCF, chapel talks and Lectures. Your engagement has been amazing and I am extremely proud of you all.
Year 11 and Upper Sixth you deserve special mention. To have the focus of your studies removed at the last minute was a real shock and you dealt with it so well. The way you finished off your courses and engaged with the bridging the gap and pre-university courses was very impressive.
Teachers – your commitment, creativity and resilience have been awe inspiring. Following the Prime Minister’s announcement that schools would close I was asked by many colleagues “what can I do to help?” My response was “provide our students with the best possible online experience. Deliver outstanding lessons, outstanding pastoral care and an outstanding co-curricular experience”. You did it and way beyond anything I could have imagined.
We have learnt so much together – and learnt from the students- and our challenge is to build on the best of what we have learned. The level of collaboration has been outstanding and we have been overwhelmed with the messages of support and praise from students and parents.
Our middle leaders deserve special mention. Heads of Department and House Staff have shown real leadership this term. All of the teaching and pastoral initiatives have been driven by them and their determination to deliver excellence has been essential in making this work.
Parents, thank you so much for all of your support. Your messages of positivity and praise have been very much appreciated and have often caused a bit of emotion. I sense that some of you have enjoyed sitting in on lessons and may have learnt something along the way.
As we come to the end of a year like no other I thank you all for your positivity. We will be working hard throughout the summer to ensure we can return safely in September.
Watch all of the end of Year celebration films by clicking this link:
https://www.tauntonschool.co.uk/parent-information/ts-end-of-year-celebrations/
Last Taunton Chapel
Enrichment Talk: Game Changers: US race relations and the influence of Sport, 1908-2020
End of Term Assembly
Commem Prize Winners Form Prizes for 2020
Year 9 Major Prizes: Jana Boraei Orlando Cairns Hetty Christopher Chloe Hims Max Mitchell Isabella Wells
Prizes: George Cousins Benjamin Giles Matilda Jacoby-Kelly Ella Marsden Jessica Oppenheim Amalie Thomas
Year 10 Major Prizes: Kate Blackmore-Greasley Elizabeth Dutton Mark Eavis Evie Gulliver Annabelle Mellenchip Nathan Roberts
Prizes: Henry Collins Luke Cunningham Helen Hounslow Julia Louw Grace Talbot Zongyou Yao
Year 11 Major Prizes: Floriana Christie Daisy Hickson Naijia Hou Alfie Joseph Hamish Ruthven Jianhua Zhang
Prizes: Laura Assanti Benjamin Coston Rebekah Kane Katheryn McVicar Yuxiang Wen Charlie Shave
Middle School Prizes
Tucker Prize for History Jianhua Zhang Pridham Prize for History Hamish Ruthven Colin Rowe Prize for Technology (D&T) Sophie hant The Summers Prize for Innovation (D&T) Adam Lewis-Williams Dewdney Prize (Classics) Daisy Hickson Jemima Layzell Trophy (Creative Arts) Chloe Hims Turing Prize for IT Yuxiang Wen Leaman Trophy (Drama) Woody Knight Wilton Trophy (Art) Laura Assanti Thomas Rowell Cornish Prize (Geography) Henrietta James S.P. Record Prize (for best GCSE Results) Jesper Harrington Lower 6th Prizes
Major Prizes: Skyla Coate Vincent Cuevas Max Fletcher Isabel Glaser Edward Kerslake Alvin Ku Anastasia Liubychenko Benjamin Pomeroy Daniel Travers
Prizes: Lena Boraei Zoe Cao Flora Collier Jessica Fisher Sophie Fisher Jesper Harrington Rhiannon Lee Philip Pullicino
Beaumont Prize (History) Edward Kerslake Withey Prize (Chemistry) Ronnie Foster Fung Prize (Physics) Daniel Travers
4The Senior Courier
Sandra Christie Baltnas Prize (Biology) Daniel Travers Old Tauntonian Western Club Prize (Art) Kate Foster The Ian Ball Photography Trophy (Art) Neva Ilhan
Upper 6th Prizes
Mrs Kidner Prize (English) Georgia McGovern Old Tauntonian Prize (English) Astrid Thomas Cyril Eyre Prize (History) Jack Kerslake Fox-Bassett Cup (History) Tamsin Peto-Dias Carrington Trophy Jack Kerslake A.R. Painter Prize (Classics) Daniel Lloyd-Jones Old Tauntonian Prize (Geography) Andrea Gilbert The Polly Darvall Cup (Geography) Oscar Thomas David Balfour-Brighton Trophy (Business Studies) Mabel Pyne J.H. Newton Prize (Economics) Oscar Thomas Representative Governors’ Prize (Religious Studies) Danielle Hardy Smith Prize (Modern Languages) Astrid Thomas Figgis Prize (Modern Languages) Sophie Brett Le Clere Cup (Modern Languages) Angelica Gori Modern Foreign Languages IB Prize Maria Parada Gasperin T.S. Penny Prize (Art) Anastasia Malevannaya Visual Arts Trophy (Art) Ethan Ho Robinson Prize (Chemistry) Finnian Hallworth Geoffrey Eyre Prize (Mathematics) Oscar Thomas Geoffrey Eyre Prize (Advanced Mathematics) Daniel Lloyd-Jones Pean Memorial Prize (Physics) Daniel Lloyd-Jones Chan Prize (Physics) Julian Muller Henry Colthurst Prize (Biology) Anna Parkinson Telfer Project Prize (Biology) Katarina Bogdanovic Kidner Prize (Science) Lorena Streit Benjamin Clark Prize (Maths and Science) Hugo Lam LC Phillips Trophy (Engineering) Stephen Cao Havelock Case Prize (Engineering Science) Patrick Doherty The Science Prize for Endeavour Lauren Berridge Psychology Cup Jessica Stacey Wickham Trophy (PE/BTEC) Dominic Murphy BTEC Prize for Sports Science Conway Gilbert Atyeo Trophy (D&T) Joshua Crompton Clegg Salver for Innovation (D&T) Jose Etcheverria The Turing Price for ICT Yuen-Lam-Janice Lee
Music Prizes
Howell Reed Orchestral Trophy Daniel Lloyd-Jones Howell Reed Trophy (Piano) Ben Mouzouri Lindo Cup for Musicianship Jose Etcheverria Hudson Cup for Brass Sophie Whitworth Angus Judkins Ravenscroft Trophy (Woodwind) Daniel Lloyd-Jones Michael Brown Trophy (Singing) Charlotte Michaels Lisk Cup (Strings) Megan Jones Bridges Trophy (Choral Singing) Florence Rihll Music Department Prize for Contribution to School Music Sharon Huang
5The Senior Courier
Drama Prizes
Gulliford Drama Trophy Chikere Jumbo The Smart Trophy Sophia Kasali Landucci Speech Trophy Patrick Large The Birdie Trophy (for technical support) Hoi Kit Wong
Speaking Prizes
Burke Prize for Debating Joseph Day Goodland Public Speaking Prize Angelica Gori Pascoe Prize for Public Speaking Hanna Wittek Priest Prize (Most Improved Speaker) Nathan Roberts
CCF Prizes
The Pugh Combined Cadet Force Shield Thomas Yap The Gray Cup Maria Parada Gasperin
Sports Prizes Snow Cup (Boys’ Hockey) Toby Power Richards Cup (Girls’ Hockey) Anna Parkinson Thomson Cup (Athletics) Andrea Gilbert Fred Wilton Dawe Award (Boys’ Athletics) Tom Dollery Barrie Cup (Netball) Daisy West Roger Smith Memorial Cup (Cricket) Conway Gilbert Alec Stewart Memorial Cup (Cricket) Toby Eavis Roger Smith Memorial Cup (Rugby) Daniel Irons Burrows Cup (Senior Rugby Player of the Year) Tyler Goosen The Longstreet Cup – Boys’ Tennis Jack Kerslake Reid Cup (Girls’ Tennis) Jennifer Cuthill The Merit Cup for Girls’ Swimming Georgia Williams and Abigail Norman The Wright Cup for Boys’ Swimming Alex Male The Goddin Award for High Sporting Endeavour (Girls) Eloise Winsor The Goddin Award for High Sporting Endeavour (Boys) Alex Male School Prizes
Hebditch Cup (Sportsman of the Year) Daniel Irons Hebditch Cup (Sportswoman of the Year) Anna Parkinson Musician of the Year Trophy Charlotte Michaels Daniel Lloyd-Jones Florence Rihll A.J. Williams Bursaries Andrea Gilbert Patrick Large Old Tauntonian Freemasons’ Prize Zachary Tyler Megan Fender P.G. Smith Cup for High Endeavour Katarina Bogdanovic Harry McFaul Trophy Amy Whatmough Pickard Trophy Angus Judkins Lizzie Pincock Teapot Mabel Pyne William Gore Prize (Best Emergent Mind) Julian Muller
6The Senior Courier
#STAYINGSAFEATHOME
#REMOTELEARNING
This week saw the return of over 240 students to the school for house picnics.
A simple way of enabling the students to come back to the school grounds and have a socially distanced face to face event with both their tutor group, their housemaster or housemistress and the tutors within the house. Many of the houses, went through some statistics about the year and gave presentations and awards to their leaving Year 13s including the delivery of Leavers’ Hoodies and Year
Books, due to our inability this term to hold the normal Leavers’ Service and BBQ events.
There were definitely plenty of smiles and of course a few tears of sadness from some of the Year 13s (and the staff), but what is fair to say is that the enjoyment, energy and noise that came with the picnics, certainly lifted everyone’s spirits going into the summer break and this could not be dampened by the rain’s attempt to spoil the party.
Thanks to all that attended, I hope you enjoyed being back, if only for a brief encounter, it was lovely to see you all, even if only for a wave and a smile. Look forward to seeing you all again very soon.
Hayley Mortimer Director of Co-Curricular
House Picnics
TENNIS Colours Junior Full Eloise Taylor Matilda Clarke
Senior Half Service Colours Mimi Longchamp Florence Salter Green Florence Rhill Ruby Cooney Senior Full Colours Jack Kerslake Jennifer Cuthill Georgia McGovern
ATHLETICS Colours Junior Half Thomas Houghton-King Junior Full Leila Fisher Hamish Ruthven
Senior Half Service Colours Vincent Ruegg Tyler Goosen Joshua Crompton Bertie Miller Patrick Large
Senior Full Colours Tom Dollery Alex Male Andrea Gilbert Astrid Thomas Anna Parkinson
SWIMMING Colours Junior Half Matt Ashby Ranuga Fernando Daisy Hickson Kesia Cunningham Ben Coston Hamish Ruthven Junior Full Hetty James Tom Houghton-King Harrison Barrett Owen Row
Senior Half Service Colours Sophie Clough Ethan Ho Senior Full Colours Georgia Williams Abigail Norman Alex Male Tom Dollery
RUGBY (Missed from Spring Term Assembly) Colours Senior Half Service Colours Ollie Halliday Sam Stevenson Jek Ramella Pollone Archie Prosser
DEBATING Colours Junior Half Kara Klimczak-Gang Junior Full George Knowles Guido Weiser
Senior Half Service Colour s Josh Cummings Hanna Wittek Ruth Kargbo
Senior Full Colours Angelica Gori Joseph Day TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Colours Senior Half Service Colour s Jason Wong
CRICKET Colours Junior Full Benjamin Chaffey Benjamin Coston Jacob Pengelly
Senior Half Service Colour s Ben Mouzouri Dominic Murphy Zachary Tyler Robert White
Senior Full Colours Conway Gilbert Toby Eavis Ayush Shulka
8The Senior Courier
#STAYINGSAFEATHOME
#REMOTELEARNING
CCF Colours Full Maria Parada Gasperin Certificate of Merit Ollie Edwards (Army) Thomas Yap (Army) Matt Ashby (RN) Ben Pomeroy (RAF)
Announcements of CCF Positions for Next Year: Contingent RSM – Makena Nesbitt Head of Royal Navy Section – CPO Zoe Cao Head of Army Section – CSM Emma Hounslow Head of RAF Section - Flt Sgt Tom Kitson-Herring
Lord Lieutenant’s Certificate of Meritorious Service have been awarded to Mr Ian Piper for 26 years of service to the CCF.
End of Summer Term Awards
YOUNG ENTERPRISE COUNTY FINAL The Young Enterprise team were Somerset’s best overall Company and competed in the Regional round.
Regional Round: commended for their business model, great marketing video and use of social media plus also their local networking.
Young Enterprise Journey Award Winner is Miles Butt.
INTERMEDIATE MATHS CHALLENGE CERTIFICATES Bronze – Year 9 Charlie Bedford Tilly Jacoby Kelly Ben Redrup Shailu Srithar
Bronze – Year 10 Aniela Cuevas Ollie Heard Pavel Irzhak William Kyles Short Mina Li Devrim Tarr
Bronze – Year 11 Sophie Chant Floriana Christie Hetty James Edward Smith Verity Winsor
Silver – Year 9 Lewis Frost Morgan Gunter
Silver – Year 10 Elizabeth Dutton Max Hole Michael Hudson Karl Ko Grace Talbot
Silver – Year 11 Ben Coston Daisy Hickson Fedor Ivanov Alfie Joseph George Knowles Zachary Meeten Charlie Shave Daniel Wen
Gold – Year 10 and Best in Year 10 Steven Yao
Gold – Year 11 Kelly Hou
DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARD Bronze Ailani Braine-Clarke Julia Louw Skye McLaughlin Ollie Edwards Ronnie Foster Martha Mileham
Silver Award KesiaCunningham
Gold Award Karl Andress William Darlington Angus Judkins Sharon Huang Lorena Streit Danielle Hardy EthanHo Sophie Brett
DANCE RAD ballet exam success
Grade 4 Lily Lucas and Nola Fisher (distinction)
Grade 7 Kesia Cunningham Georgia Imm Arabella Ellisson
9The Senior Courier
#STAYINGSAFEATHOME
#REMOTELEARNING
National School Sports Week Over the past week (National School Sports Week) the House Teams have been encouraging participation from their houses in a
number of different events and activities to compete for Virtual Sports Day titles.
The responsibility fell to the Year 12s to collate videos, photos and evidence for each of the events and submit their completed entries.
Well done to everyone that took part. Here are the results! Hayley Mortimer
Director of Co-Curricular
20km Bike Archie Tyler, ML ML
5km Run Archie Tyler, ML WW
Plank Archie Tyler, ML ML
Press Ups Sam Stevenson, WE WW
Sit ups Gustav Zhao, FW FW
Egg and Spoon Seb Dando, FW FW
Shuttle Ronnie Foster, FW WW
Vertical Jump Seb Dando, FW FW
Broad Jump Seb Dando, FW FW
OVERALL
Plank Jana, BV BV
Egg and Spoon Kate, BS BV
Shuttle Charlotte Hicks, JK JK
Vertical Jump Andrea, BV BS
Broad Jump Tia, WD BV
OVERALL
Regatta Winners
Last week, Hetty Holden, Marni Gallimore, Catherine Kemmish and Lizzie Kemmish competed in Chester "Virtual" Regatta - apparently the oldest Regatta in the world - and won the Junior Women's age 14 Quad Race!
They have been continuing with their rowing sessions weekly via zoom and using ergo rowers but are looking forward to being allowed back on the water soon.
Congratulations all of you!
The Taunton School student- led Amnesty Group have been busy continuing their work for the International charity and have produced a video of their latest campaign: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=uU3zhHKKx2w&feature=you tu.be
In the past, Taunton School’s Amnesty group has helped tackle period poverty. This was done by collecting pads across the school and donated to countries where girls had
a lower chance of attending school due to their periods and lack of resources. In addition, we have “Written for Rights” to governments, government officials and victims themselves. Your generous donations will help provide food and shelter for these orphans. Because of the terrible economic climate that COVID19 has left us all in, most of the funds that the orphanage once received have completed and because of the dusk-dawn curfew, it has been harder than ever for the Kenyan citizens. The higher the donations, the more food that can be given to help feed the children. We at Taunton School would like to give you our complete and sincerest gratitude, with your donation, no matter how big your small, you have changed the life of a young child. Thank you for your positivity and hope in the humankind.
A message from the pastor
Nyataro children's' orphanage is found to the Western parts of Kenya, 52 km south of Kisii, Nyataro village. Kisii boarders the Luo speaking community of Migori county to the south and Maasai speaking community of Narok county to the north. This two ethnical community are always hostile whenever comes country's General elections. The orphanage was started in October 2017 after a severe ethical war that was brought about by political differences. Dozens of people lost their lives due to political instability. These political wars led to many people and poor orphans who fled to our church for safety.
Please visit their "Go fund me page" if you can help: https://www.gofundme.com/f/nyataro-childrens-orphanage
Taunton School Amnesty International Group
11The Senior Courier
Dining Room Update After an enforced 5 week absence
just before Easter, the contractor returned to site at the start of May and our project is now very much back on track. Works started slowly at first, to allow site staff to adjust practices and activities and a new way of working in line with Govt guidance around Covid-19.
Working inside a nearly completed building has been no easy task, but the team on site has responded superbly, ensuring that the site is safe at all times. The continued efforts of all involved have been superb and as such progress has
continued.
The most significant visible change since the return is the removal of the large blue hoarding on Densham Green – that has allowed passers-by to see for the first time the impressive full height glass façade that is the new dining room. The dining room will open out on to the new terrace, properly linking the interior spaces with the outside.
Inside the building we are starting to see significant progress on the finishes and services – our facility will have a huge amount of technology built in, and miles
of cabling and controls are being installed everywhere. The dining room will have state of the art audio visual systems, colour controllable lights, automatic blinds and underfloor heating to name but a few. These are in addition to a kitchen facility that will allow our catering team to work in a 21st century catering environment.
We are now “full steam ahead” for a completion just before the new term at the start of September.
Terry Harris, Estates Manager
Taunton School Memories Project
A new online campaign has been launched encouraging all members of the Taunton School community – Old Tauntonians, teachers, staff and parents past and present to take part.
So far we have received some excellent responses to our questionnaire from Old Tauntonians, dating back to those who attended school here in 1944! We’d love some more stories and memories from our parents - memories of the first day of dropping children off, proudest moments and anything you’d like to share.
We are planning to use all these stories, photos and videos to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the school in two years’ time.
Join in! Taunton School Foundation Team
We’re collecting memories!
For Parents and Staff: https://forms.gle/x5Ame3ckepu76PDWA
13The Senior Courier
#STAYINGSAFEATHOME
#REMOTELEARNING
Taunton School Daily Drawing Challenge Thank you to everyone who has taken part during the summer term.
14The Senior Courier
#BLM Game Changers: US race relations and the influence of
Sport, 1908-2020 On Tuesday, 30th June, Ben Marsden
(History Teacher and Housmaster) delivered an insighful and topical enrichment talk as part as part of the end of year celebrations.
The recent death of George Floyd and the ensuing turmoil in the USA has given fresh impetus to the movement for racial equality around the world. The Black Lives Matter movement has never had a
higher profile, and there appears to be a genuine appetite for change.
To mark this current mood, Taunton School is offering a free lecture on the influence of sport in the long-term campaign for improved civil rights in the USA. Ben Marsden provides an historical sweep of the twentieth century, and argues that black athletes have been far more
influential in highlighting and promoting change than has perhaps been recognised.
To watch his presentation in full presentation, follow this link: https://www. tauntonschool.co.uk/parent-information/ ts-end-of-year-celebrations/
16The Senior Courier
House Singing Christmas
World Mental Health Day Rugby charity fundraising
Weirfield took the 2019 crown! Read this edition of the Courier here.
Christmas celebrations and a special debate. Read this edition of the Courier here.
Rugby Team raise money for Musgrove A&E. Read this edition of the Courier here.
The U14, U16 and U19 triumph at County Championships. Read the news story here.
Great success for musicions at Taunton Festival of the Arts. Read this edition of the Courier here.
Tea and Chat for students to support Mental Health Day. Read this edition of the Courier here.
Lots of fun and games during this year's RaG week. Visit the School Facebook page for a round-up here.
17The Senior Courier
The 39 Steps
Choral Concert Home Learning
Learning at home for the Summer Term. Read this edition of the Courier here.
The Community Choir sang John Rutter's Magnificat Read this edition of the Courier here.
Taunton CCF had their Biennial Inspection. Read this edition of the Courier here.
Harry the Piano entertained a packed theatre. Visit the school Facebook page to see a short film here.
A superb production of The 39 Steps was performed by talented students. Read this edition of the Courier here.
Reporter and Broadcaster Tim Marshall visited School. Read this edition of the Courier here.
It was not the end of year celebration that we all had in mind, but that wouldn't stop the traditional Commemoration and Prize Giving Service taking place, this time streaming online to the world. Enjoy this edition of the courier which celebrates achievements and looks back over the year. ...and much more
2The Senior Courier
#STAYINGSAFEATHOME
#REMOTELEARNING
How is it possible to summarise the strangest of terms?... by Lee Glaser, Headmaster
I must start with our students. The way you have engaged with your learning over this past 10 weeks has been exemplary. I have nothing
but admiration for you. It has always annoyed me when older generations have described you as snowflakes. You have stood up and shown resilience when it mattered, probably more than you could have imagined. I have loved sitting in on lessons, watching drama debates concerts scholarship sessions CCF, chapel talks and Lectures. Your engagement has been amazing and I am extremely proud of you all.
Year 11 and Upper Sixth you deserve special mention. To have the focus of your studies removed at the last minute was a real shock and you dealt with it so well. The way you finished off your courses and engaged with the bridging the gap and pre-university courses was very impressive.
Teachers – your commitment, creativity and resilience have been awe inspiring. Following the Prime Minister’s announcement that schools would close I was asked by many colleagues “what can I do to help?” My response was “provide our students with the best possible online experience. Deliver outstanding lessons, outstanding pastoral care and an outstanding co-curricular experience”. You did it and way beyond anything I could have imagined.
We have learnt so much together – and learnt from the students- and our challenge is to build on the best of what we have learned. The level of collaboration has been outstanding and we have been overwhelmed with the messages of support and praise from students and parents.
Our middle leaders deserve special mention. Heads of Department and House Staff have shown real leadership this term. All of the teaching and pastoral initiatives have been driven by them and their determination to deliver excellence has been essential in making this work.
Parents, thank you so much for all of your support. Your messages of positivity and praise have been very much appreciated and have often caused a bit of emotion. I sense that some of you have enjoyed sitting in on lessons and may have learnt something along the way.
As we come to the end of a year like no other I thank you all for your positivity. We will be working hard throughout the summer to ensure we can return safely in September.
Watch all of the end of Year celebration films by clicking this link:
https://www.tauntonschool.co.uk/parent-information/ts-end-of-year-celebrations/
Last Taunton Chapel
Enrichment Talk: Game Changers: US race relations and the influence of Sport, 1908-2020
End of Term Assembly
Commem Prize Winners Form Prizes for 2020
Year 9 Major Prizes: Jana Boraei Orlando Cairns Hetty Christopher Chloe Hims Max Mitchell Isabella Wells
Prizes: George Cousins Benjamin Giles Matilda Jacoby-Kelly Ella Marsden Jessica Oppenheim Amalie Thomas
Year 10 Major Prizes: Kate Blackmore-Greasley Elizabeth Dutton Mark Eavis Evie Gulliver Annabelle Mellenchip Nathan Roberts
Prizes: Henry Collins Luke Cunningham Helen Hounslow Julia Louw Grace Talbot Zongyou Yao
Year 11 Major Prizes: Floriana Christie Daisy Hickson Naijia Hou Alfie Joseph Hamish Ruthven Jianhua Zhang
Prizes: Laura Assanti Benjamin Coston Rebekah Kane Katheryn McVicar Yuxiang Wen Charlie Shave
Middle School Prizes
Tucker Prize for History Jianhua Zhang Pridham Prize for History Hamish Ruthven Colin Rowe Prize for Technology (D&T) Sophie hant The Summers Prize for Innovation (D&T) Adam Lewis-Williams Dewdney Prize (Classics) Daisy Hickson Jemima Layzell Trophy (Creative Arts) Chloe Hims Turing Prize for IT Yuxiang Wen Leaman Trophy (Drama) Woody Knight Wilton Trophy (Art) Laura Assanti Thomas Rowell Cornish Prize (Geography) Henrietta James S.P. Record Prize (for best GCSE Results) Jesper Harrington Lower 6th Prizes
Major Prizes: Skyla Coate Vincent Cuevas Max Fletcher Isabel Glaser Edward Kerslake Alvin Ku Anastasia Liubychenko Benjamin Pomeroy Daniel Travers
Prizes: Lena Boraei Zoe Cao Flora Collier Jessica Fisher Sophie Fisher Jesper Harrington Rhiannon Lee Philip Pullicino
Beaumont Prize (History) Edward Kerslake Withey Prize (Chemistry) Ronnie Foster Fung Prize (Physics) Daniel Travers
4The Senior Courier
Sandra Christie Baltnas Prize (Biology) Daniel Travers Old Tauntonian Western Club Prize (Art) Kate Foster The Ian Ball Photography Trophy (Art) Neva Ilhan
Upper 6th Prizes
Mrs Kidner Prize (English) Georgia McGovern Old Tauntonian Prize (English) Astrid Thomas Cyril Eyre Prize (History) Jack Kerslake Fox-Bassett Cup (History) Tamsin Peto-Dias Carrington Trophy Jack Kerslake A.R. Painter Prize (Classics) Daniel Lloyd-Jones Old Tauntonian Prize (Geography) Andrea Gilbert The Polly Darvall Cup (Geography) Oscar Thomas David Balfour-Brighton Trophy (Business Studies) Mabel Pyne J.H. Newton Prize (Economics) Oscar Thomas Representative Governors’ Prize (Religious Studies) Danielle Hardy Smith Prize (Modern Languages) Astrid Thomas Figgis Prize (Modern Languages) Sophie Brett Le Clere Cup (Modern Languages) Angelica Gori Modern Foreign Languages IB Prize Maria Parada Gasperin T.S. Penny Prize (Art) Anastasia Malevannaya Visual Arts Trophy (Art) Ethan Ho Robinson Prize (Chemistry) Finnian Hallworth Geoffrey Eyre Prize (Mathematics) Oscar Thomas Geoffrey Eyre Prize (Advanced Mathematics) Daniel Lloyd-Jones Pean Memorial Prize (Physics) Daniel Lloyd-Jones Chan Prize (Physics) Julian Muller Henry Colthurst Prize (Biology) Anna Parkinson Telfer Project Prize (Biology) Katarina Bogdanovic Kidner Prize (Science) Lorena Streit Benjamin Clark Prize (Maths and Science) Hugo Lam LC Phillips Trophy (Engineering) Stephen Cao Havelock Case Prize (Engineering Science) Patrick Doherty The Science Prize for Endeavour Lauren Berridge Psychology Cup Jessica Stacey Wickham Trophy (PE/BTEC) Dominic Murphy BTEC Prize for Sports Science Conway Gilbert Atyeo Trophy (D&T) Joshua Crompton Clegg Salver for Innovation (D&T) Jose Etcheverria The Turing Price for ICT Yuen-Lam-Janice Lee
Music Prizes
Howell Reed Orchestral Trophy Daniel Lloyd-Jones Howell Reed Trophy (Piano) Ben Mouzouri Lindo Cup for Musicianship Jose Etcheverria Hudson Cup for Brass Sophie Whitworth Angus Judkins Ravenscroft Trophy (Woodwind) Daniel Lloyd-Jones Michael Brown Trophy (Singing) Charlotte Michaels Lisk Cup (Strings) Megan Jones Bridges Trophy (Choral Singing) Florence Rihll Music Department Prize for Contribution to School Music Sharon Huang
5The Senior Courier
Drama Prizes
Gulliford Drama Trophy Chikere Jumbo The Smart Trophy Sophia Kasali Landucci Speech Trophy Patrick Large The Birdie Trophy (for technical support) Hoi Kit Wong
Speaking Prizes
Burke Prize for Debating Joseph Day Goodland Public Speaking Prize Angelica Gori Pascoe Prize for Public Speaking Hanna Wittek Priest Prize (Most Improved Speaker) Nathan Roberts
CCF Prizes
The Pugh Combined Cadet Force Shield Thomas Yap The Gray Cup Maria Parada Gasperin
Sports Prizes Snow Cup (Boys’ Hockey) Toby Power Richards Cup (Girls’ Hockey) Anna Parkinson Thomson Cup (Athletics) Andrea Gilbert Fred Wilton Dawe Award (Boys’ Athletics) Tom Dollery Barrie Cup (Netball) Daisy West Roger Smith Memorial Cup (Cricket) Conway Gilbert Alec Stewart Memorial Cup (Cricket) Toby Eavis Roger Smith Memorial Cup (Rugby) Daniel Irons Burrows Cup (Senior Rugby Player of the Year) Tyler Goosen The Longstreet Cup – Boys’ Tennis Jack Kerslake Reid Cup (Girls’ Tennis) Jennifer Cuthill The Merit Cup for Girls’ Swimming Georgia Williams and Abigail Norman The Wright Cup for Boys’ Swimming Alex Male The Goddin Award for High Sporting Endeavour (Girls) Eloise Winsor The Goddin Award for High Sporting Endeavour (Boys) Alex Male School Prizes
Hebditch Cup (Sportsman of the Year) Daniel Irons Hebditch Cup (Sportswoman of the Year) Anna Parkinson Musician of the Year Trophy Charlotte Michaels Daniel Lloyd-Jones Florence Rihll A.J. Williams Bursaries Andrea Gilbert Patrick Large Old Tauntonian Freemasons’ Prize Zachary Tyler Megan Fender P.G. Smith Cup for High Endeavour Katarina Bogdanovic Harry McFaul Trophy Amy Whatmough Pickard Trophy Angus Judkins Lizzie Pincock Teapot Mabel Pyne William Gore Prize (Best Emergent Mind) Julian Muller
6The Senior Courier
#STAYINGSAFEATHOME
#REMOTELEARNING
This week saw the return of over 240 students to the school for house picnics.
A simple way of enabling the students to come back to the school grounds and have a socially distanced face to face event with both their tutor group, their housemaster or housemistress and the tutors within the house. Many of the houses, went through some statistics about the year and gave presentations and awards to their leaving Year 13s including the delivery of Leavers’ Hoodies and Year
Books, due to our inability this term to hold the normal Leavers’ Service and BBQ events.
There were definitely plenty of smiles and of course a few tears of sadness from some of the Year 13s (and the staff), but what is fair to say is that the enjoyment, energy and noise that came with the picnics, certainly lifted everyone’s spirits going into the summer break and this could not be dampened by the rain’s attempt to spoil the party.
Thanks to all that attended, I hope you enjoyed being back, if only for a brief encounter, it was lovely to see you all, even if only for a wave and a smile. Look forward to seeing you all again very soon.
Hayley Mortimer Director of Co-Curricular
House Picnics
TENNIS Colours Junior Full Eloise Taylor Matilda Clarke
Senior Half Service Colours Mimi Longchamp Florence Salter Green Florence Rhill Ruby Cooney Senior Full Colours Jack Kerslake Jennifer Cuthill Georgia McGovern
ATHLETICS Colours Junior Half Thomas Houghton-King Junior Full Leila Fisher Hamish Ruthven
Senior Half Service Colours Vincent Ruegg Tyler Goosen Joshua Crompton Bertie Miller Patrick Large
Senior Full Colours Tom Dollery Alex Male Andrea Gilbert Astrid Thomas Anna Parkinson
SWIMMING Colours Junior Half Matt Ashby Ranuga Fernando Daisy Hickson Kesia Cunningham Ben Coston Hamish Ruthven Junior Full Hetty James Tom Houghton-King Harrison Barrett Owen Row
Senior Half Service Colours Sophie Clough Ethan Ho Senior Full Colours Georgia Williams Abigail Norman Alex Male Tom Dollery
RUGBY (Missed from Spring Term Assembly) Colours Senior Half Service Colours Ollie Halliday Sam Stevenson Jek Ramella Pollone Archie Prosser
DEBATING Colours Junior Half Kara Klimczak-Gang Junior Full George Knowles Guido Weiser
Senior Half Service Colour s Josh Cummings Hanna Wittek Ruth Kargbo
Senior Full Colours Angelica Gori Joseph Day TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Colours Senior Half Service Colour s Jason Wong
CRICKET Colours Junior Full Benjamin Chaffey Benjamin Coston Jacob Pengelly
Senior Half Service Colour s Ben Mouzouri Dominic Murphy Zachary Tyler Robert White
Senior Full Colours Conway Gilbert Toby Eavis Ayush Shulka
8The Senior Courier
#STAYINGSAFEATHOME
#REMOTELEARNING
CCF Colours Full Maria Parada Gasperin Certificate of Merit Ollie Edwards (Army) Thomas Yap (Army) Matt Ashby (RN) Ben Pomeroy (RAF)
Announcements of CCF Positions for Next Year: Contingent RSM – Makena Nesbitt Head of Royal Navy Section – CPO Zoe Cao Head of Army Section – CSM Emma Hounslow Head of RAF Section - Flt Sgt Tom Kitson-Herring
Lord Lieutenant’s Certificate of Meritorious Service have been awarded to Mr Ian Piper for 26 years of service to the CCF.
End of Summer Term Awards
YOUNG ENTERPRISE COUNTY FINAL The Young Enterprise team were Somerset’s best overall Company and competed in the Regional round.
Regional Round: commended for their business model, great marketing video and use of social media plus also their local networking.
Young Enterprise Journey Award Winner is Miles Butt.
INTERMEDIATE MATHS CHALLENGE CERTIFICATES Bronze – Year 9 Charlie Bedford Tilly Jacoby Kelly Ben Redrup Shailu Srithar
Bronze – Year 10 Aniela Cuevas Ollie Heard Pavel Irzhak William Kyles Short Mina Li Devrim Tarr
Bronze – Year 11 Sophie Chant Floriana Christie Hetty James Edward Smith Verity Winsor
Silver – Year 9 Lewis Frost Morgan Gunter
Silver – Year 10 Elizabeth Dutton Max Hole Michael Hudson Karl Ko Grace Talbot
Silver – Year 11 Ben Coston Daisy Hickson Fedor Ivanov Alfie Joseph George Knowles Zachary Meeten Charlie Shave Daniel Wen
Gold – Year 10 and Best in Year 10 Steven Yao
Gold – Year 11 Kelly Hou
DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARD Bronze Ailani Braine-Clarke Julia Louw Skye McLaughlin Ollie Edwards Ronnie Foster Martha Mileham
Silver Award KesiaCunningham
Gold Award Karl Andress William Darlington Angus Judkins Sharon Huang Lorena Streit Danielle Hardy EthanHo Sophie Brett
DANCE RAD ballet exam success
Grade 4 Lily Lucas and Nola Fisher (distinction)
Grade 7 Kesia Cunningham Georgia Imm Arabella Ellisson
9The Senior Courier
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National School Sports Week Over the past week (National School Sports Week) the House Teams have been encouraging participation from their houses in a
number of different events and activities to compete for Virtual Sports Day titles.
The responsibility fell to the Year 12s to collate videos, photos and evidence for each of the events and submit their completed entries.
Well done to everyone that took part. Here are the results! Hayley Mortimer
Director of Co-Curricular
20km Bike Archie Tyler, ML ML
5km Run Archie Tyler, ML WW
Plank Archie Tyler, ML ML
Press Ups Sam Stevenson, WE WW
Sit ups Gustav Zhao, FW FW
Egg and Spoon Seb Dando, FW FW
Shuttle Ronnie Foster, FW WW
Vertical Jump Seb Dando, FW FW
Broad Jump Seb Dando, FW FW
OVERALL
Plank Jana, BV BV
Egg and Spoon Kate, BS BV
Shuttle Charlotte Hicks, JK JK
Vertical Jump Andrea, BV BS
Broad Jump Tia, WD BV
OVERALL
Regatta Winners
Last week, Hetty Holden, Marni Gallimore, Catherine Kemmish and Lizzie Kemmish competed in Chester "Virtual" Regatta - apparently the oldest Regatta in the world - and won the Junior Women's age 14 Quad Race!
They have been continuing with their rowing sessions weekly via zoom and using ergo rowers but are looking forward to being allowed back on the water soon.
Congratulations all of you!
The Taunton School student- led Amnesty Group have been busy continuing their work for the International charity and have produced a video of their latest campaign: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=uU3zhHKKx2w&feature=you tu.be
In the past, Taunton School’s Amnesty group has helped tackle period poverty. This was done by collecting pads across the school and donated to countries where girls had
a lower chance of attending school due to their periods and lack of resources. In addition, we have “Written for Rights” to governments, government officials and victims themselves. Your generous donations will help provide food and shelter for these orphans. Because of the terrible economic climate that COVID19 has left us all in, most of the funds that the orphanage once received have completed and because of the dusk-dawn curfew, it has been harder than ever for the Kenyan citizens. The higher the donations, the more food that can be given to help feed the children. We at Taunton School would like to give you our complete and sincerest gratitude, with your donation, no matter how big your small, you have changed the life of a young child. Thank you for your positivity and hope in the humankind.
A message from the pastor
Nyataro children's' orphanage is found to the Western parts of Kenya, 52 km south of Kisii, Nyataro village. Kisii boarders the Luo speaking community of Migori county to the south and Maasai speaking community of Narok county to the north. This two ethnical community are always hostile whenever comes country's General elections. The orphanage was started in October 2017 after a severe ethical war that was brought about by political differences. Dozens of people lost their lives due to political instability. These political wars led to many people and poor orphans who fled to our church for safety.
Please visit their "Go fund me page" if you can help: https://www.gofundme.com/f/nyataro-childrens-orphanage
Taunton School Amnesty International Group
11The Senior Courier
Dining Room Update After an enforced 5 week absence
just before Easter, the contractor returned to site at the start of May and our project is now very much back on track. Works started slowly at first, to allow site staff to adjust practices and activities and a new way of working in line with Govt guidance around Covid-19.
Working inside a nearly completed building has been no easy task, but the team on site has responded superbly, ensuring that the site is safe at all times. The continued efforts of all involved have been superb and as such progress has
continued.
The most significant visible change since the return is the removal of the large blue hoarding on Densham Green – that has allowed passers-by to see for the first time the impressive full height glass façade that is the new dining room. The dining room will open out on to the new terrace, properly linking the interior spaces with the outside.
Inside the building we are starting to see significant progress on the finishes and services – our facility will have a huge amount of technology built in, and miles
of cabling and controls are being installed everywhere. The dining room will have state of the art audio visual systems, colour controllable lights, automatic blinds and underfloor heating to name but a few. These are in addition to a kitchen facility that will allow our catering team to work in a 21st century catering environment.
We are now “full steam ahead” for a completion just before the new term at the start of September.
Terry Harris, Estates Manager
Taunton School Memories Project
A new online campaign has been launched encouraging all members of the Taunton School community – Old Tauntonians, teachers, staff and parents past and present to take part.
So far we have received some excellent responses to our questionnaire from Old Tauntonians, dating back to those who attended school here in 1944! We’d love some more stories and memories from our parents - memories of the first day of dropping children off, proudest moments and anything you’d like to share.
We are planning to use all these stories, photos and videos to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the school in two years’ time.
Join in! Taunton School Foundation Team
We’re collecting memories!
For Parents and Staff: https://forms.gle/x5Ame3ckepu76PDWA
13The Senior Courier
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Taunton School Daily Drawing Challenge Thank you to everyone who has taken part during the summer term.
14The Senior Courier
#BLM Game Changers: US race relations and the influence of
Sport, 1908-2020 On Tuesday, 30th June, Ben Marsden
(History Teacher and Housmaster) delivered an insighful and topical enrichment talk as part as part of the end of year celebrations.
The recent death of George Floyd and the ensuing turmoil in the USA has given fresh impetus to the movement for racial equality around the world. The Black Lives Matter movement has never had a
higher profile, and there appears to be a genuine appetite for change.
To mark this current mood, Taunton School is offering a free lecture on the influence of sport in the long-term campaign for improved civil rights in the USA. Ben Marsden provides an historical sweep of the twentieth century, and argues that black athletes have been far more
influential in highlighting and promoting change than has perhaps been recognised.
To watch his presentation in full presentation, follow this link: https://www. tauntonschool.co.uk/parent-information/ ts-end-of-year-celebrations/
16The Senior Courier
House Singing Christmas
World Mental Health Day Rugby charity fundraising
Weirfield took the 2019 crown! Read this edition of the Courier here.
Christmas celebrations and a special debate. Read this edition of the Courier here.
Rugby Team raise money for Musgrove A&E. Read this edition of the Courier here.
The U14, U16 and U19 triumph at County Championships. Read the news story here.
Great success for musicions at Taunton Festival of the Arts. Read this edition of the Courier here.
Tea and Chat for students to support Mental Health Day. Read this edition of the Courier here.
Lots of fun and games during this year's RaG week. Visit the School Facebook page for a round-up here.
17The Senior Courier
The 39 Steps
Choral Concert Home Learning
Learning at home for the Summer Term. Read this edition of the Courier here.
The Community Choir sang John Rutter's Magnificat Read this edition of the Courier here.
Taunton CCF had their Biennial Inspection. Read this edition of the Courier here.
Harry the Piano entertained a packed theatre. Visit the school Facebook page to see a short film here.
A superb production of The 39 Steps was performed by talented students. Read this edition of the Courier here.
Reporter and Broadcaster Tim Marshall visited School. Read this edition of the Courier here.