Old Orwellian News

Winter 2016

Leading Independent Coeducational boarding and day school 2½ to 13 Orwell Park, Nacton, Ipswich, Suffolk IP10 0ER Tel: 01473 659225 www.orwellpark.co.uk

Half Century Club Lunch 2016

Headmaster Adrian Brown, Nicole Brown and guests

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Headmaster Dear Old Orwellians, When we consider the achievements of our pupils last year, we can reflect on a very successful year academically. At the top of the school Year 8 again achieved 100% pass rate at Common Entrance and this is in the context of entry to a wide range of local and national schools, where competition for places is growing. In a year group of 43, 37 awards were achieved to senior schools, a record number of scholarships for the school. As I mentioned on Speech Day, this year we embark on a new 5 year strategic plan, which will look to take the school forward in a sustainable way. Pastoral care will be at the forefront, alongside teaching and learning. This duality is at the heart of the proposal to move the Middle School classes into one area in the stable block, giving greater unity and coherence to that part of the school. The Governors have also agreed to invest in the refurbishment and development of our boarding accommodation; boarding is at the heart of the school and is key to our future success, whether it be flexi, weekly or full boarding. We are also looking at parking around the school site, a key area as we plan the future development of the school.

In addition to these three areas (boarding, Middle School and parking) we have identified the educational need for an indoor swimming pool and a Performing Arts Centre and we will be developing our plans for these two projects in the near future. Last term saw the introduction of our core values: kindness, collaboration, courage, spirit and respect, under the overarching value of integrity. These core values have been derived from whole school discussion and we will be exploring these with the children in the terms ahead as we seek to embed them into the fabric of school life. The Autumn term also saw the arrival of iPads in school for every pupil in Years 3 to 8 and we have been developing their use in the classroom and beyond. We were delighted to see so many of you at Orwellian Day last June and again at the Half Century Club Luncheon at the school in November; many memories were rekindled for those Old Orwellians who attended the Act of Remembrance on the school field. We were sad to hear of the death of Lord Jim Prior, former pupil and distinguished Chair of Governors; Lord Prior attended the Aldeburgh Lodge reunion at the Wentworth Hotel, Aldeburgh in August 2015, when he shared many stories of his time at school. Nicole and I very much look forward to seeing OOs from the 1990-2010 decades at the Reform Club in London in January.

Adrian Brown Headmaster

Contents:

Word from the Headmaster Page 2

Lord Prior Page 3

Memories Page 4

Half Century Club Luncheon Page 5

Hilary Cronin Page 6

Sam Tuke Page 6

History of Orwell Park Page 7

Future Events Page 8

Contacts Page 8

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Lord Jim Prior (OO 1936-1940)

JML Prior is listed in the Aldeburgh Lodge magazine as having joined the school in the Summer term 1936 and left at the end of Spring term 1941. He was thus one of that select band who attended all four locations – Alde-burgh Lodge, Orwell Park, Hembury Fort House and Bedstone Court. He was born in 1927 in Norfolk. His father was a law-yer and a director of Norwich Football Club and Jim was a keen supporter of the club. This was reflected in his career at school which saw him captaining the 1st XI. It is in the Autumn term 1936 magazine that he receives his first mention for his prowess on the football field, the editor being of the opinion that in due course he would be a sound footballer. In the Autumn 1940 mag-azine, the editor goes as far as to say: JML Prior (Captain) – Inside left. Can shoot well with either foot and has excellent control. A most unselfish player, who has fed his forwards judiciously. Already an outstanding footballer, he will undoubtedly shine at Charterhouse. His captaincy of the XI has been most successful.

During his time at Aldeburgh Lodge and then at Orwell Park, Lord Prior not only excelled on the field in both cricket and football, he was also a member of the debat-ing society, receiving mentions in school magazines. He had a keen interest in natural history, winning the school botany prize in the summer of 1940 when Orwell Park was evacuated to Devon. He also took part in school plays and was a keen shot. He was joint leader of the Labour Gang at Orwell Park, which involved coordinating and carrying out manual jobs around the school and grounds. The Gang not only made and carted hay from the grounds but also helped with harvesting at Home Farm. They laid cinder paths, picked fruit for the school and rolled and marked tennis courts. Following Orwell Park, Lord Prior went to Charterhouse and then did military service in the Royal Norfolk Regi-ment, serving in Germany and India before going on to Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he earned a first class honours degree in Estate Management. Lord Prior reputedly said that he fell into politics, hav-ing had it suggested to him that he stand for the Lowes-toft seat when he was sitting on his tractor. He became the MP for Lowestoft in 1959, and when the Suffolk seat changed, he became the Member for Waveney in 1983 until 1987, when he was made a life peer. Lord Prior’s political career: Vice Chair, Conservative Party (January 1965-

July 1965) Secretary of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and

Food (June 1970-November 1972) Deputy Chair, Conservative Party (July 1972-

March 1974) Lord President of the Council and Leader of the

House of Lords (Privy Council Office) (November 1972-March 1974)

Shadow Secretary of State (March 1974-May 1979)

Secretary of State for Employment (May 1979-September 1981)

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (September 1981-September 1984)

Lord Prior was Chairman of the Board of Governors at Orwell Park from 1985 to 1991. During his chairman-ship the sports hall and new block were built, a signifi-cant development project at the school.

1938 Orwell Park Football team—Lord Prior front right

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LORD PRIOR CONT:

Memories I was sorry to read in the Old Orwellian News of PJCooper’s death. Although I was a contemporary of his my OP career was hardly in his league. However, I remember Noel Wilkinson calling him “the harbour master’s friend”, as P.J’s loud voice might be heard across the river at Pin Mill! In the 1950s small, rectan-gular glass-topped box puzzles were the rage at Orwell Park. Inside were ball bearings, or small shapes that had to be positioned to complete a picture or pattern. On the base of the box was a long sentence with every word starting with a “P”, as in “Popular, perplexing puzzles.”

Before the days of Health and Safety we had Jet-X fuel for use in various toys. During a cricket match, I think against Old Buckenham Hall, there was a memorable explosion in the Round Pond when an expensive model Vesper launch disintegrated, injuring its owner (Cohen mi) and causing “stumps to be drawn”.

The mention of the museum in “Ghosts” brings back mixed memories. On a wet Sunday it was a wonderful Aladdins cave for lonely boarders to visit. The Tibetan prayer wheels, oriental armour and curious flexible stones etc helped to stimulate the interests of genera-tions. Many of us think that the loss of these treasures is the single saddest episode in OP’s history.

The major educational omission at OP in the 1950s was Science, although Mr Akenhead (Music and Maths) did his best to interest us in Physics after Common En-trance with magnets, mirrors and particularly pulleys. However, on the first of floor of the buildings near Chandler’s workshop was Steady’s Laboratory (named after a former teacher, Mr Steadman). Inside were test tubes and bottles of who knows what, which we illicit-ly, and probably dangerously, played with. Incidentally we were never caught!

Nat Barnardiston, 1951-1955

Current Waveney MP Peter Aldous has said Lord Prior had strong values of compassionate Conservatism. Mr Aldous said his death was the “end of an era”, as before his death Lord Prior was one of the few surviv-ing politicians to have served in both the Heath and Thatcher governments. “He was, to me personally, a great help and support - since I was a candidate right the way through to being an MP. When I needed his advice and guidance, he was always there to provide it. He was never critical and always helpful. The best tribute that I can give to him is that even though he left office in 1987, still when I go around the constituency there are a lot of people who speak very fondly about him. He was a very popular person, in-credibly approachable and he treated everyone exactly the same. He was a real character - he had a presence, he filled a room and everyone was terribly fond of him.”

Aldeburgh Lodge reunion August 2015

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Half Century Club Luncheon

On 11th November we were pleased to welcome back to Orwell Park over 40 members of the Half Century Club. We were also delighted that several members of the HCC were able to join the school for the Act of Remembrance at the Ha-Ha.

After a super lunch, guests were entertained by pupils with a short music recital. The Headmaster then gave guests a brief overview of the most recent develop-ments at the school, which included his recent visit to Mayo College in India. Tours of the school, including the Observatory, were then conducted for those who wished, and to the delight of some former pupils the “mythical” tunnel’s location was revealed, the exist-ence of which having been a subject of conjecture for many during their time at school!

Act of Remembrance at the Ha-Ha

The new Common Room in the Girls’ Boarding House

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Hilary Cronin 1999-2004

Sam Tuke 1993-1999 While studying for his A-Levels Sam founded his first company building customised computers for clients in Suffolk. He graduated from the University of London's specialist Philosophy and Theology College, where he become devoted to collaborative Open Source technol-ogies, which he has worked with ever since. For five years he advocated for a German-based NGO, work-ing throughout Europe as a public speaker and cam-paign organiser, before moving into Open Source pro-ject management and marketing. He was recently awarded the Entrepreneurial Scholar-ship from Tagesspiegel (a German national newspa-per) to complete an Executive MBA degree at the Eu-ropean School of Management and Technology, Ber-lin. While studying he leads Open Source email mar-keting firm phpList Ltd. as Chief Executive.

Soprano Hilary Cronin studied at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance under the tutelage of Teresa Cahill and Helen Yorke. She completed a Postgraduate Di-ploma and an FTCL Diploma

thanks to generous support from Trinity College Lon-don, Dame Susan Morden and Robinson Hearn.

Prior to this, Hilary read Music at Royal Holloway, University of London and, in her final year, she was awarded the Driver Prize for Excellence in Perfor-mance and The Dame Felicity Lott Bursary to help with postgraduate studies. She was a Choral Scholar of The Choir of Royal Holloway and performed solos on Hyperion discs and live BBC Radio 3 Broadcasts.

Choral singing plays a prominent role in Hilary's life and she has also held choral scholarships at St Martin-in-the-Fields and the Old Royal Naval College Chapel in Greenwich. She sings with St Martin’s Voices, for whom she is a regular soloist. Previous engagements include Mozart’s Requiem, Vivaldi’s Ostro Picta and Bach's St John Passion. Hilary now sings at St Bar-tholomew-the-Great and St Sepulchre-without-Newgate. Hilary completed the Genesis Sixteen choral

programme earlier this year and has sung with ensem-bles such as Siglo de Oro, Renaissance, Illuminare, Britten Sinfonia Voices and The Portrait Choir.

Hilary’s operatic roles have included Belinda (Dido and Aeneas - Purcell), Noemie (Cendrillon – Masse-net), Gretel (Hansel and Gretel – Humperdinck) and Cunegonde (Candide – Bernstein). In Operatic Scenes, Hilary has performed the roles of Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni - Mozart), La Mu-sique (Les Plaisirs de Versailles - Charpen-tier), Rosmene (Imeneo - Handel), Lisette (La Ron-dine – Puccini), Vitellia (La Clemenza di Tito - Mo-zart), Mabel (The Pirates of Penzance – Sullivan) and Yum-Yum (The Mikado - Sullivan). Experience of contemporary opera includes Susan (A Dinner En-gagement– Berkeley) with Opera Dinamica, Tina (Flight – Dove) in Trinity’s Postgrad-uate Opera Scenes andNance (Banished - McNeff) in Trinity's 2016 summer opera. Hilary covered the role of Minerva inUlysses' Homecoming by Monteverdi and Diana in La Calisto by Cavalli for English Tour-ing Opera's 2016 Autumn Season.

Hilary has sung in Masterclasses with Dame Emma Kirkby, Michael Chance, Janis Kelly and, in August 2014, she took part in a Competitive Masterclass with Dame Felicity Lott at The Three Choirs Festival in Worcester. Hilary has just been awarded a Fellowship of Trinity College, London.

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The Foundation of Orwell Park School is producing a history of Orwell Park School. This hard backed coffee table sized publication will cover the years from Eaton House, Crespigny House, Aldeburgh Lodge and the war years, all the way through to the move to Orwell Park and to the present day. There will be sponsorship oppor-tunities which will secure a mention in the book. The book is being written by Edwina Langley (below).

If anyone has any memorabilia or archive material that they would be willing to either donate or lend to the school please could they, in the first instance, get in touch with Sarah Kirby-Smith.

Edwina Langley is a journalist based in London. She started her career at The Lady, England's longest running women's weekly. Over four years, she worked across editorial, PR and Market-ing, interviewing such figures as Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave, singer Katherine Jenkins and chef Clarissa Dickson Wright. From there, she moved on to edit luxury lifestyle magazine, Absolutely Chelsea.

Under her editorship, the magazine featured interviews with a diverse range of high profile individuals, from explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes to gardening expert Alan Titchmarsh, footballer Frank Lampard and model Jodie Kidd. Two years later, she went freelance, and has since contributed to publications including Grazia, STYLIST, Mail on Sunday's You magazine and London Evening Stand-ard online.

Edwina’s grandfather, James Langley, and uncle, Roderick Langley, attended Aldeburgh Lodge and Orwell Park School respectively.

View of the Ha-Ha from c.1876 showing Colonel Tomline’s Tower

History of Orwell Park

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For ease of communication it would help us enormously if we were able to keep in touch with as many Old Or-wellians as possible by email. We are building a programme of events for Old Orwellians throughout the year, and communication by email would not only keep administrative costs down but would also make a difference environmentally.

If any Old Orwellian would like to receive communications from school by email in the future please do let me know by email on oldorwellians@orwellpark.org. We do understand that this might not be possible or convenient for some OOs, so hard copies will still be sent as required.

Adrian Brown, Headmaster Email: headmaster@orwellpark.org Telephone: 01473 659225 Bernadette Ross-Smith, Registrar Email: bernadetteross-smith@orwellpark.org Telephone: 01473 653224

Sarah Kirby-Smith, Old Orwellian Secretary Email: oldorwellians@orwellpark.org Tel: 01473 653274 Sally Webber, Headmaster’s PA Email: sallywebber@orwellpark.org Telephone: 01473 653297

Future Events

Contacts

19th January 2017 Two decade OO Drinks Party (1990-2010), The Reform Club, London 7th May 2017

OO Golf Day

24th June 2017 Old Orwellian Day, Orwell Park 10th November 2017

Half Century Club Lunch, London

We will be hosting the second 10k Race and Fun Run on Saturday 18th March 2017 at 2.00pm. This event is open to all friends and family of Orwell Park and is in aid of our three chosen charities this year (St Elizabeth Hos-pice, Meningitis Research Foundation and Facing the World).

We are inviting Old Orwellians to join us for the Fun Run or the 10k. If anyone would like more information, please contact Caroline Brunt on carolinebrunt@orwellpark.org. The 10k was won last year by Old Orwellian Harry Golding.

Every pupil in Years 4 to 8 will once again have the opportunity to participate in the 3k Fun Run and to dress up in fancy dress, if they wish. Children aged 8 and under are welcome to run but must be accompanied by an adult. The 3km route is entirely on school grounds and this year we have added a 1.5k run (one lap of the 3k route), which may be more suitable for very young participants. Adults are very welcome to run any of the three distances!

Can you help? We are again looking for sponsorship for this big event to help with the organisational costs and possibly to pro-vide goody bags should appropriate items become available. If you are able to contribute in any way, please can you let Caroline Brunt know as soon as possible.

10k and Fun Run for Charity