ALUMNI NEWS

“Thank

you CTC

for making

me what I

am today”

Justin Kon (left

CTC in 1976)

In This Issue

Catching up with

former staff and

students

Focus on retiring

tutorsDr Sherratt and

Mrs Hayes

Report from recent

Alumni events

Principal’s Welcome

I am delighted to be writing this as the new Principal of CTC although I have

now been here since April. I have thoroughly enjoyed my first few weeks

here: the students are delightful and all have been well focused on their

studies so we are looking at some excellent results in August.

You might like to know that my own background fits the CTC profile quite

well. I was born in the USA (my father was a British diplomat there) and for

many years I worked in Singapore at the United World College there. More

recently I was head of a Round Square school committed to a set of IDEALS

– the ‘I’ of which was to promote internationalism and international

understanding. I love the international mix of students here at CTC.

I am lucky to have inherited such an interesting place. We face some

challenging times but the essential foundation blocks are in place. Over the

next few weeks we will be spending quite a lot of money on refurbishing

areas of the College like the student common room, a new reception area,

better classrooms and hidden things like the electricity supply and much

better Wi-Fi provision. It is very important that the College presents itself

well and our students have access to the best facilities and a wider range of

activities over the coming months. I will be busy over the summer holidays

working on the College’s next development plan which I will share with you

in due course, but one aspect of it will focus on the development of our

alumni relations.

Sadly we have two colleagues who are retiring this term after many years’

service: Dr Doris Sherratt, Head of Biology, and Mrs Heather Hayes, Head

of Economics, Business Studies and Accounting. Between them they have

served CTC for an amazing 71 years. I know you will join me in wishing

them a long and happy retirement. For sure CTC has a stable and settled

staff.

If you are ever in London then do please think of coming to see the College;

it is always best to let us know beforehand! I do hope to meet many of you

in the coming months and years.

Mark Eagers

Principal@ctc.ac.uk

CTC Alumni Newsletter Issue 2 July 2014

Name and subject taught

Mary Pillai, Mathematics

During which years were you

a member of staff at CTC?

1988-2011 How have you been spending

your time since retiring?

Basically having fun! I travel, play

badminton, do country rambling,

Pilates, read, go to the theatre,

cinema, ballet, art galleries,

museums, parks, meet up with old

friends make new friends…..

Oh yes I nearly forgot, I’m back at

CTC as an external member of the Trust Council.

What did you like most about working at CTC?

I liked the students, especially the hard working ones, and I liked my great team of mathematics

teachers. I had handpicked everyone of those teachers and it was fun bossing them around! I also liked

having rice and curry for lunch every day

What did you like least about working at CTC?

I did not like writing reports, taking minutes at tutors meetings, doing staff appraisals nor marking

endless papers.

Which student or class do you remember most clearly from your time at CTC, and why?

I can remember many/most of my students over the years and remember most of them fondly. I probably

remember my Malaysian students more than any other nationality as I often saw them on my numerous

trips to Malaysia. Whenever I was on the same flight as them, they would always offer to help me with

my luggage and ask if I needed a lift from the airport.

I also remember my Latvian students as they came to welcome me at my hotel on my first night in Riga

when I did a week long Mathematics Induction Course. That trip will be remembered for the “volcanic

ash” flight

cancellations and

my 38 hour coach

trip home. If I were

to pick one student

from the very, very

many who were

special to me it

would be Yimong

Aye from

Mynamar. Although

very humble,

Yimong was one of

the kindest,

cleverest students

that ever came to

CTC. She was the

top student in

Chemistry at

Somerville College, Oxford and went on to Harvard. She chose Chemistry over Mathematics but I

did not hold that against her.

What is your most amusing memory of your time at CTC?

I once had a GCSE student who thought the formula sheet was her weekly test and spent 45

minutes trying to solve it. Another GCSE student was rummaging around in his bag trying to find his

homework when he pulled out a goldfish. Or perhaps it was the time that I started a lesson with no

students. I had warned my Kings College Foundation Group that I was tired of them turning up late

and I would start my lesson without them. I had been teaching for 15 minutes when the first student

arrived!

Name and nationality

Justin Kon Khoon Jin,

Malaysian.

During which years

were you a student at CTC?

December 1975 – June 1976.

What have you been up to since leaving CTC?

After completing my A’Level at CTC, I left for the University of Essex in September 1976 to pursue my

tertiary education.

Upon my return to Malaysia in 1978, I worked for a distributor of Mercedes Benz vehicles as a

Management Executive for 2 years. In 1980, I joined a diversified local conglomerate as a Corporate

Executive for slightly over 5 years.

In 1986, I started my career with a German international logistics company as its Managing Director in

Malaysia for almost 20 years. In 2005, I formed my own logistics company and I have been working

here ever since.

Most difficult thing to get used to when you first arrived at CTC?

I come from a tropical country with almost perpetual summer-like weather throughout the year. I found

the cold English winter, with short hours of daylight, as the most difficult thing for me to get accustomed

to when I first arrived at CTC.

Unlike most students, I came to the U.K in December which did not give me time for transition to adapt

to the changing weather and its surrounding. But now, I miss the cold, crisp air of winter morning at

times.

Most valuable lesson learned at CTC?

The most valuable lesson I learnt at CTC is that it has taught me the skills to think outside the box ;

emphasing on critical, creative and analytical learning.

Justin, pictured with local host Mrs

Dabin and her pet dogs..Circa 1976

Justin, Mrs Dabin and fellow student Tay Hua

Hui. Tay is now a Gastroentoroligist at

Gleneagles Medical Centre in Singapore

The teachers focused on the students from the very start of the course. They made learning very

interesting and they were very passionate in the subjects they taught. The small tutorial class allowed

students to interact and participate actively in the learning process which we all gained from it

immeasurably.

Which tutor do you remember most clearly from your time at CTC, and why?

Mr Andrew Stuart , my tutor for Economics subject,had made great impact on me. When I joined his class

in December 1975, I had a lot to catch up and he patiently guarded me and marked all the essays that I

did in my spare time. He was always there to help me whenever I ran into obstacles in my studies. He

was strict but very approachable and helpful. I owe CTC a great depth of gratitude for the excellent

teaching staff who are best placed to help me in realising my dream. I am happily married with two

children who arein the legal profession.

Thank you CTC for making me what I am today.

What is your most amusing memory of your time at CTC?

I found the free and open discussion in tutorial classes at CTC very amusing. The English students are

usually very vocal and they often argue with the tutor. This makes for a

lively, interesting and sometime quite heated debate.

Generally speaking, students from Southeast Asia tend to be more inhibitive and less expressive but they

warm up quite quickly and join the fray.

I remembered an English student arguing vehemently with Mr Roger Osborne, the then Principal, in the

Students Committee meeting. As a student from Malaysia, our educational system does not encourage us

to be critical or expressive, let alone challenging

the view point of the College Principal.

Justin with his wife Margaret at the Topicana Golf and Country

Resort in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Alumni Re-Union Dinners

In January 2014, CTC held three successful alumni re-union dinners in Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

Prominent amongst the invited guests were Mr & Mrs Ong (above), who sent all three of their children to

CTC.

In Vietnam, the college was celebrating the 20th anniversary of its first visit in 1994

Guest of Honour at the dinner in Ho Chi Minh City was Mr Huyen,

the Vice-Principal of Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted,

seen here with 4 students from CTC’s outstanding vintage of 2007.

Amongst other Le Hong Phong ex-pupils at the dinner was Nguyen

Chi Hieu (in centre of picture below left), CTC’s most successful

student ever. In 2004, he was the UK’s top A-level student and

featured in all of the national daily newspapers. He went on to

become the top graduate of the LSE in 2007 and won a full

scholarship to Stanford University in the USA

The event in Singapore was

to mark the 20th

anniversary of CTC’s

partnership with Dr James

Loh of Unidegree

Consultancy. Dr Loh

(pictured here with Mario Di

Clemente) is the college’s

exclusive representative in

Singapore.

Hanoi The event in Hanoi brought together the heads and deputy heads of Hanoi’s top high schools as well

as students who were at CTC back in 1995. Guests of Honour (in picture below) included Mr Dung,

the Vice-President of the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce who helped David Wilson obtain a visa

for his first visit to Vietnam in January 1994, Mrs Nga, the Vice-Principal of the Foreign Language

Specialising School and Mrs Oanh, Principal of Hanoi-Amsterdam High School for the Gifted.

When Mr Wilson first visited the school in1994,

Mrs Oanh was a Russian teacher, and he helped

her gain a scholarship to the UK to re-train as an

English teacher. Now, twenty years later, she

has become Principal of the school.

Like Le Hong Phong in Ho Chi Minh City,Hanoi

-Amsterdam has sent many outstanding

scholars to CTC in the intervening 20 years!

One of the highlights of the dinner was a slideshow presented by Mr Wilson and entitled “Down Memory Lane”; in it, he told the story behind CTC’s success in Vietnam, where the college went from one student in 1995 to 46 in 2012:

Students attending the Hanoi dinner included Hang - a top student from 1995 (bottom left) - and An - a 100% scholarship winner who graduated in 2013 (bottom right).

Both girls came to us from Hanoi Amsterdam High

An was the event’s MC and was interviewed by Hanoi Television

Further photographs from the 2014 Alumni events can be seen on the college Facebook page

Name and subject taught

Doris Sherratt

A level biology

What prompted you to apply for a job at CTC?

To find a position that involved small group tuition. I had done quite a lot of this type of teaching whilst doing my

PhD and I found I preferred it to research.

When did you start working at CTC.

September 1976 when my current students’ parents were probably children

What have you enjoyed the most about working at CTC?

Working with students who have come to us from very different backgrounds. When I first came to CTC the

students were mainly home retake students and I had to help them overcome the disappointment of not getting a

place at university first time round. They had to learn to put their work first and their other commitments e.g. rugby

second.

The type of students changed over the years and now the challenges are different, the overseas students are not

used to thinking for themselves and I still enjoy helping them to become independent learners rather than rote

learners.

What have you like least about working at CTC?

The marking, but it is a means to an end. Unless the students try, make mistakes and learn by their

mistakes,progress cannot be made

Which student or class do you remember most clearly from your time at CTC, and why?

Two classes are memorable. Both classes were predominantly boys (with apologies to my current “girly” groups)

which I like because they are usually much more logical than girls but boys hate to learn. The first was about my

second or third year at CTC, a group that were totally uncontrollable, so I used to give them lots of essays (no short

answers in those days) I would mark the essays and then we would discuss the topic of the essay and anything

else relevant. An OFSTED inspector would probably like this approach these days but then it was not normal.

Anyway, much to my surprise the tactic worked they all did well and many of them went on to read medicine. I

remember seeing one of them at a reunion event and he apologised for the group because he now realised how

Head of Biology Dr Sherratt reflects on

38 years at CTC

difficult they had been.

The second was a group of Malaysian/Singaporean boys who got on well but a number of them could not stop asking

demanding questions which used to slow up the lessons considerably. Anyway we got through the syllabus and

generally they did well and went off to read medicine or other science subjects. For a number of years they used to turn

up, on mass to say hello, disturbing the lesson I was trying to give.

What is your most amusing/significant memory of your time at CTC?

When David Wilson was Principal we used to have an end of year barbecue at his home. Most years the weather was

good, but one year it RAINED, a bit like the last Winter. David moved the barbecue to his Summer House that was on an

island in the middle of a pond. There was a train of people trying not to get wet, crossing stepping stones to get to the

Summer House and then crossing back across the pond with their meal. I don’t think anyone fell in.

What do you think you will most miss about CTC ?

It has got to be the students, all sorts but each individual and different. I think our current students’ parents are very

brave because they send their children half way across the world in order to get a good education. I think we should be

grateful to them and be very proud of the progress these young people make.

Name and subject taught

Heather Hayes - Economics

When did you start working at CTC?

The first time was 1981 to 1984. Then again from 1989 to 2014.

What have you like most about working at CTC?

Teaching small groups of students who are highly motivated and interested in my subject. It has

also been rewarding for me to learn about other countries and cultures from students who have

come here from such a wide variety of countries.

What have you like least about working at CTC?

All the marking of Economics essays. They take so long to read and correct. I also l disliked the

fact that B53 used to be very cold in the winter and too hot in the summer. We have new boiler

now so it is has been very cosy in the winter.

What is your most amusing/significant memory of your time at CTC?

When I served on the Students’ Committee many years ago we used to organise a Christmas

Ball. This took place on a river boat on the Thames. We hired coaches from Croydon to West-

minster Pier and spent the evening cruising up to the Thames Barrier. It was always cold but the

students enjoyed seeing the lights of London from the river. (There were many empty desks as

the next day’s test periods)!!!

What do you think you will most miss about CTC ?

The company of students - including their moaning about homework and test periods. I will also miss the chatter and company of the Staff Room.

This year Heather Hayes retires from CTC . We take a

look back at her time at the college

Keeping in Touch

CTC London

Water Tower Hill

Croydon

Surrey

CR0 5SX

020 8688 5284

alumni@ctc.ac.uk

Visit us on the web at

www.ctc.ac.uk

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The next

issue will be

sent in

January

2015